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War and Peace: Original Version
Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy
An alternative version – the one Tolstoy originally intended, but has been hitherto unpublished – of Russia’s most famous novel; with a different ending, fewer digressions and an altered view of Napoleon – it’s time to look afresh at one of the world’s favourite books.‘War and Peace’ is a masterpiece – a panoramic portrait of Russian society and its descent into the Napoleonic Wars which for over a century has inspired reverential devotion among its readers.This version is certain to provoke controversy and devotion in equal measures. A ‘first draft’ of the epic version known to all, it was completed in 1866 but never published. A closely guarded secret for a century and a half, the unveiling of the original version of ‘War and Peace’, with an ending different to that we all know, is of huge significance to students of Tolstoy. But it is also sure to prove fascinating to the general reader who will find it an invigorating and absorbing read. Free of the solemn philosophical wanderings, the drama and tragedy of this sweeping tale is reinforced. His characters remain central throughout, emphasising their own personal journeys, their loves and passions, their successes and failures and their own personal tragedies.500 pages shorter, this is historical fiction at its most vivid and vital, and readers will marvel anew at Tolstoy’s unique ability to conjure the lives and souls of Russia and the Russians in all their glory. For devotees who long for more, for those who struggled and didn’t quite make it to the end, or for those who have always wanted to know what all the fuss is about, this is essential reading.
War and Peace
Original Version
Leo Tolstoy
Translated by Andrew Bromfield
Introduction by Nikolai Tolstoy
Contents
Cover (#u962b2934-ba4d-5975-95ef-b57b014a225d)
Title Page
Introduction
A Note on the Translation
Table of Russian Weights and Measures
List of Illustrations
Part I
I
“Eh bien, mon prince, so Genoa and Lucca are now…
II
Anna Pavlovna’s drawing room began filling up little by little.
III
Anna Pavlovna’s soirée was in full swing. On various sides…
IV
This new person was the young Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, husband…
V
Anna Pavlovna requested the vicomte to wait while she showed…
VI
The end of the vicomte’s story went as follows:
VII
“The entire nation will die for its Emperor, for the…
VIII
Having thanked Anna Pavlovna for her charming soirée, the guests…
IX
Reaching the house first, Pierre, as if he lived there,…
X
A woman’s dress rustled in the next room. As if…
XI
The friends were silent. Neither said a word. Pierre kept…
XII
It was after one in the morning when Pierre left…
XIII
Prince Vasily kept the promise that he had made to…
XIV
Silence fell. The countess looked at her guest with a…
XV
Of the young people, aside from the countess’s elder daughter,…
XVI
When Natasha came out of the drawing room and started…
XVII
The countess felt so tired after the visits that she…
XVIII
In the drawing room the conversation was continuing.
XIX
“My dear Boris,” Princess Anna Mikhailovna said to her son…
XX
Boris, thanks to his placid and reserved character, was never…
XXI
When Anna Mikhailovna and her son left to go to…
XXII
Countess Rostova and her daughter and an already large number…
XXIII
It was that moment before a formal dinner when the…
XXIV
Natasha was clearly unable to sit still. She pinched her…
XXV
The card tables had all been set up, parties sat…
XXVI
Meanwhile Natasha, running first into Sonya’s room and not finding…
XXVII
Natasha whispered to Nikolai that Vera had just upset Sonya…
XXVIII
While at the Rostovs’ house they were dancing the sixth…
XXIX
While these conversations were taking place in the reception room…
XXX
Pierre knew this large room, divided by columns and an…
XXXI
There was no longer anyone in the reception room apart…
XXXII
At Bleak Hills, the estate of Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky,…
XXXIII
Princess Marya went back to her room with the sad,…
XXXIV
The grey-haired valet was dozing in his chair, listening to…
XXXV
When the twenty minutes remaining until the time for the…
XXXVI
“Well now, Mikhail Ivanovich, our Buonaparte is having a hard…
XXXVII
Prince Andrei was leaving in the evening of the next…
Part II
I
In October 1805, Russian forces were occupying the villages and…
II
“He’s coming!” a signalman shouted at just that moment.
III
The regiment broke up into companies and set out for…
IV
On returning from the review, Kutuzov went through into his…
V
The Pavlograd Hussars Regiment was stationed two miles from Braunau.
