Set against the sweeping panoply of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, War and Peace—presented here in the first new English translation in forty years—is often considered the greatest novel ever written. At its center are Pierre Bezukhov, searching for meaning in his life; cynical Prince Andrei, ennobled by wartime suffering; and Natasha Rostov, whose impulsiveness threatens to destroy her happiness. As Tolstoy follows the changing fortunes of his characters, he crafts a view of humanity that is both epic and intimate and that continues to define fiction at its most resplendent.

• A Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition with French flaps and luxurious packaging
• Includes an introduction, note on the translation, cast of characters, maps, notes on the major battles depicted, and chapter summaries

‘[A] momentous panorama of human activity’ 
John Updike

‘Magnificent … War and Peace reaches a simplicity and gravitas unknown in Western literature outside the pages of The Iliad’ 
A. N. Wilson