The chief one is undoubtedly the question "What causes and shapes historical events?". I can't think of many authors who know how to present and develop their characters as well as Tolstoy.Īdditionally, the book presents plenty of interesting philosophical and scientific ("science of history") ideas. They are all, without exception, extremely believable and well developed. The characters in the book are various and present the different ideas Tolstoy tries to infuse into his narration. Tolstoy also presents the life in rural Russia a little, and the interrelations between the rich and the serfs, although he doesn't spend on this topic nearly as much as in Anna Karenina. The book provides a very interesting and in-depth glimpse into this unusual society by today's standards, somewhat modeled after, and thus similar to, other European societies (French, British, etc.). The other is the high Russian society of that time. Specific events of the war are highlighted with the participation of the book's main characters, like Andrey Bolkonsky, Nikolay Rostov and Pierre Bezoukhov. The characters of Napoleon and Kutuzov (the Russian army leader) take active part in the narration, with the lesser leaders (Bagration, de Tolli, Davoux) also getting enough attention to build a complete and interesting story. Tolstoy describes the wars, and in particular the battles of Austerlitz (1805) and Borodino (1812) in vivid detail and apparently very accurately from a historic point of view.
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