Wordsworth Classics are inexpensive editions designed to appeal to the general reader and students. We commissioned teachers and specialists to write wide ranging, jargon-free introductions and to provide notes that would assist the understanding of our readers rather than interpret the stories for them. In the same spirit, because the pleasures of reading are inseparable from the surprises,secrets and revelations that all narratives contain, we strongly advise you to enjoy this book before turning to the Introduction.

War and Peace is a vast epic centred on Napoleon's war with Russia. While it expresses Tolstoy's view that history is an inexorable process which man cannot influence, he peoples his great novel with a cast of over five hundred characters.

Three of these, the artless and delightful Natasha Rostov, the world-weary Prince Andrew Bolkonsky and the idealistic Pierre Bezukhov illustrate Tolstoy's philosophy in this novel of unquestioned mastery. This translation is the one which received Tolstoy's approval.

VOLUME ONE

 BOOK ONE

 BOOK TWO

 BOOK THREE

 BOOK FOUR

 BOOK FIVE

VOLUME TWO

 BOOK SIX

 BOOK SEVEN

 BOOK EIGHT

 BOOK NINE

 BOOK TEN

VOLUME THREE

 BOOK ELEVEN

 BOOK TWELVE

 BOOK THIRTEEN

 BOOK FOURTEEN

 BOOK FIFTEEN

FIRST SPILOGUE

SECOND SPILOGUE

SOME WORDS ABOUT WAR AND PEACE

NOTES ON THE TEXT

MAPS