100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock πŸ‡³πŸ‡Ώ

Enjoy overnight NZ-wide delivery from our NZ-owned independent bookstore! πŸŽ‰

War and Peace

By Leo Tolstoy
Series: Oxford World's Classics Hardback Collection
0.0 (0 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
War and Peace masterfully intertwines personal lives with the sweeping historical events of the Napoleonic wars and Russia's defence against French invasion. It follows the intertwined fortunes of the Rostovs, Bolkonskys, Pierre, Natasha, and Andrei, capturing both grand battles and intimate moments of domesticity. Tolstoy's epic explores themes of destiny, free will, and the human spirit with a prodigious cast rendered in vivid and poignant detail.
Read More
Format: Hardback
TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK Please add to wishlist to be notified when back in stock

Sorry, we're currently out of stock of War and Peace. Please add to your Wishlist and we'll send you an email as soon as it's back in stock.

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for readers interested in classic literature, historical fiction, and philosophical explorations of fate and free will, as well as those looking to engage deeply with Russian cultural and historical contexts.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Tolstoy's epic masterpiece intertwines the lives of private and public individuals during the time of the Napoleonic wars and the French invasion of Russia. In this definitive Maude translation, Tolstoy's genius and the power of his prose are made newly available to the contemporary reader.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

"I don't understand it; I don't in the least understand why men can't live without wars. How is it that we women don't want anything of the kind, don't need it?"

Tolstoy's epic masterpiece intertwines the lives of private and public individuals during the time of the Napoleonic wars and the French invasion of Russia. The fortunes of the Rostovs and the Bolkonskys, of Pierre, Natasha, and Andrei, are intimately connected with the national history that is played out in parallel with their lives.

Balls and soirΓ©es alternate with councils of war and the machinations of statesmen and generals, scenes of violent battles with everyday human passions in a work whose extraordinary imaginative power has never been surpassed. The prodigious cast of characters, both great and small, seem to act and move as if connected by threads of destiny as the novel relentlessly questions ideas of free will, fate, and providence. Yet Tolstoy's portrayal of marital relations and scenes of domesticity is as truthful and poignant as the grand themes that underlie them.

In this definitive and highly acclaimed Maude translation, Tolstoy's genius and the power of his prose are made newly available to the contemporary reader. In addition, this edition includes a new introduction by Amy Mandelker, revised and expanded notes, lists of fictional and historical characters, a chronology of historical events, five maps, and Tolstoy's essay Some Words about War and Peace.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The Shepherd Express praises the new Oxford University Press translation as lucid and scholarly, noting Tolstoy's profound ability to engage with enduring philosophical and spiritual challenges about how to live amid change. This edition also offers extensive supplementary material enhancing the reader's understanding.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780198800545

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 28 September 2017

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Oxford University Press

Contributors:

  • Translated by Louise Maude
  • Introduction by Amy Mandelker

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 67.0mm

Width: 146.0mm

Height: 225.0mm

Weight: 1167g

Pages: 1392

Collections

Classic Fiction Classic General Fiction Fiction General Fiction Leo Tolstoy Literary Fiction Series: Oxford World's Classics Hardback Collection

About the Author

Amy Mandelker, Associate Professor of Comparative Literature at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, has written books and articles on Russian literature and literary theory and was the editor of the Tolstoy Studies Journal. Her books include Framing Anna Karenina: Tolstoy, the Woman Question and the Novel of Adultery (1993) and Approaches to World Literature: Teaching Tolstoy's 'Anna Karenina', co-edited with Liza Knapp (2003).

Also by Leo Tolstoy

View all
  • War And Peace
    The acclaimed new translation of Tolstoy's masterpiece, for the first time in Black Classics after the successful hardback and Red Classics editionsβ€”10,000+ hardbacks and, by the time of Black Classics, 20,000+ of Red Classics sold. At a glittering society party in St Petersburg in 1805, conversations are dominated by the prospect of war. Terror swiftly engulfs the country as Napoleon's...
    By Leo Tolstoy
    Paperback
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Death of Ivan Ilyich
    46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Launched in 2015, the extraordinarily successful Little Black Classics series has now sold nearly 1 million copies in the UK alone and over 2 million worldwide, making their way into retailers such as Tesco and the series' most popular book. This...
    By Leo Tolstoy
    Paperback
    $800
    Elsewhere:
    $999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Anna Karenina
    Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy is part of the Penguin Classics relaunch. This edition features the award-winning new translation of the great Russian novel. Exploring themes of love, betrayal, and the complexity of human relationships, Anna Karenina is a compelling narrative that delves into the intricacies of 19th-century Russian society. Tolstoy's masterful storytelling invites readers into the lives of unforgettable...
    By Leo Tolstoy
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    18% off
    Anna Karenina
    The greatest love story I've ever read - Andrew Davies Anna Karenina is a novel of unparalleled richness and complexity, set against the backdrop of Russian high society. Tolstoy charts the course of the doomed love affair between Anna, a beautiful married woman, and Count Vronsky, a wealthy army officer who pursues Anna after becoming infatuated with her at a...
    By Leo Tolstoy
    Paperback
    $1800
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories
    Magnificent new translation of Tolstoy's fiction by the acclaimed duo behind War and Peace. 'As good as anything Tolstoy ever wrote... Self-assured, vital, unforgettable' β€” Guardian The title story of this collection is about a man battling a mysterious illness. His family visit his bedside, their faces masks of concern. His colleagues pay their respects but only think of the...
    By Leo Tolstoy
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories
    This volume includes Family Happiness, The Kreutzer Sonata, The Devil, and Father Sergius. The four stories are all about love, but they take very different attitudes towards it. Tolstoy knows that his readers have fallen in love and also, often, fallen out of it; they have wanted to kill their loved ones; they have lusted vigorously; or desperately sought the...
    By Leo Tolstoy
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Death Ivan Ilych and other stories (riverrun editions)
    "How truth thickens and deepens when it migrates from didactic fable to the raw experience of a visceral awakening is one of the thrills of Tolstoy's stories." Sharon Cameron in her preface to The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories Tolstoy wrote in many genres for different audiences. In this, the first of three volumes of his shorter fiction...
    By Leo Tolstoy
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Cossacks
    Introducing Little Clothbound Classicsβ€”irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas, and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. The Cossacks follows Dmitry Andreich Olenin, who, in the hope of escaping the hollowness of his privilege, joins the army and heads to the Caucasus. There among the foothills, he will meet the Cossacksβ€”a people he considers...
    By Leo Tolstoy
    Hardback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Resurrection
    A new translation by Tony Briggs of Tolstoy's last major novel. Resurrection (1899) tells the story of a nobleman's attempt to redeem the suffering his youthful philandering inflicted on a peasant girl who ends up a prisoner in Siberia. Tolstoy's vision of redemption achieved through loving forgiveness, and his condemnation of violence, dominate the novel. An intimate, psychological tale of...
    By Leo Tolstoy
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • How Much Land Does a Man Need? & Other Stories
    How Much Land Does a Man Need? & Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy is a collection of short works that range from Tolstoy's earliest tales to the brilliant title story. Rich in insights and passion, these stories embody the themes that define all of Tolstoy's explorations: love, war, courage, and civilization.
    By Leo Tolstoy
    Paperback
    $3000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Childhood, Boyhood, Youth
    A superb new translation by Judson Rosengrant of Tolstoy's semi-autobiographical trilogy. Leo Tolstoy began his trilogy, Childhood, Boyhood, Youth, in his early twenties. Although he would in his old age famously dismiss it as an 'awkward mixture of fact and fiction', generations of readers have not agreed. Readers find the novel to be a charming and insightful portrait of inner...
    By Leo Tolstoy
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • A Confession and Other Religious Writings
    Describing Tolstoy's crisis of depression and estrangement from the world, A Confession (1879) is an autobiographical work of exceptional emotional honesty. By the time he was fifty, Tolstoy had already written the novels that would assure him of literary immortality; he had a wife, a large estate and numerous children; he was a happy man and in good healthβ€”yet life...
    By Leo Tolstoy
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today

More from General Fiction

View all
  • The Wedding People
    'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people β€” but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...
    By Alison Espach
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Throne of Glass Box Set (Paperback)
    Enter the realm. Unleash the darkness. Live the legend. Discover the worldwide phenomenon of the #1 New York Times-bestselling Throne of Glass series in this gorgeous 8-book box set! In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not...
    By Sarah J. Maas
    Set
    $12400
    Elsewhere:
    $15500
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Goal
    Welcome to Briar U!Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy!Read The Goal now for the perfect forced proximity romance! She's good at achieving her goals . . . College senior Sabrina James has her whole future planned out: graduate from college, kick...
    By Elle Kennedy
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Red Rising
    The first book in the incredible New York Times bestselling series Darrow is a Helldiver, toiling beneath the surface of Mars. As a member of the Red caste, he performs grueling labor in the belief that his sacrifice will enable future generations to one day inhabit the surface of the Red Planet. The Reds are humankind's lowest caste, living in...
    By Pierce Brown
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The Ballad of Falling Dragons [Special Deluxe edition]
    The No.1 Sunday Times bestselling sensation When the Moon Hatched continues with the second book in The Moonfall Series, The Ballad of Falling Dragons… Raeve’s thirst for vengeance continues to burn, as does her love for Kaan Vaegor – a staunch beacon from a past she’s yet to face. With Rekk’s blood still fresh on her hands, she learns the...
    By Sarah A. Parker
    Hardback
    $5999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Carl's Doomsday Scenario
    Join Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat Princess Donut as they fight fantastical creatures and deadly mobs in the second book in the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl series -now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition Now on the third floor, Carl and Donut have to fight harder than ever. They've already proven that a Coast Guard vet and once-and-forever...
    By Matt Dinniman
    Hardback
    $4699
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Score
    Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession... Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Score now for the perfect friends with benefits romance! He knows how to score, on and off the ice... Allie Hayes is in crisis mode. With graduation looming, she still doesn't have...
    By Elle Kennedy
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Golden Son
    ENDER'S GAME meets THE HUNGER GAMES in this, the second in an extraordinary trilogy from an incredible new voice.'I'm still playing games. This is just the deadliest yet.' Darrow is a rebel forged by tragedy. For years he and his fellow Reds worked the mines, toiling to make the surface of Mars inhabitable. They were, they believed, mankind's last hope....
    By Pierce Brown
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Dylan's Pick Dylan's Pick
    Theo of Golden
    THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came from…His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance –...
    By Allen Levi
    Paperback
    $2899
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    (5)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Project Hail Mary
    Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Martian, offers a gripping new adventure in hard science fiction. With endorsement from notable figures such as Barack Obama and a slew of five-star reviews, this novel promises a thrilling and intellectually stimulating journey. Ryland Grace, a lone astronaut, finds himself on a...
    By Andy Weir
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    (4)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    On Mystic Lake
    One of the greatest storytellers of our time - Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing Annie Colwater's only child has just left home for school in England. On that same day, her husband of twenty years confesses that he's in love with a younger woman. Left alone in the beautiful California house which was once a home, Annie...
    By Kristin Hannah
    Paperback
    $3100
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • East of Eden
    Set against the backdrop of the fertile Salinas Valley in California, East of Eden is a profound and compelling novel by John Steinbeck, one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. This masterful narrative charts the intertwining destinies of two familiesβ€”the Trasks and the Hamiltonsβ€”across multiple generations. Steinbeck's intricate portrayal of human nature and enduring exploration of moral themes...
    By John Steinbeck
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

General Fiction lists from the team

Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!

The Latest at Book Hero

View all