''If you''ve never read it, now is the moment. This translation will show that you don''t read War and Peace, you live it'' The Times Tolstoy''s enthralling epic depicts Russia''s war with Napoleon and its effects on the lives of those caught up in the conflict. He creates some of the most vital and involving characters in literature as he follows the rise and fall of families in St Petersburg and Moscow who are linked by their personal and political relationships. His heroes are the thoughtful yet impulsive Pierre Bezukhov, his ambitious friend, Prince Andrei, and the woman who becomes indispensable to both of them, the enchanting Natasha Rostov. ''It is simply the greatest novel ever written. All human life is in it. If I were told there was time to read only a single book, this would be it'' Andrew Marr TRANSLATED BY RICHARD PEVEAR AND LARISSA VOLOKHONSKY

Autorentext
Leo Tolstoy was born in central Russia on 9 September 1828. In 1852 he published his first work, the autobiographical Childhood. He served in the army during the Crimean War and his Sevastopol Sketches (1855-6) are based on his experiences. His two most popular masterpieces are War and Peace (1864-69) and Anna Karenina (1875-8). He died in 1910.