War and Peace, Vol. 1

War and Peace is one of the greatest monuments in world literature. Set against the dramatic backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, it examines the relationship between the individual and the relentless march of history. The universal themes of love and hate, ambition and despair, and youth and age are expressed with a swirling vitality which makes the book as accessible today as it was when it was first published in 1869. It is famously one of the longest books in Western literature and therefore a remarkable challenge for any reader.