The year is 1812 and we’re in Russia.  Napoleon, the man, the myth, the legend, is facing off against General Winter.  Here to guide us through the chaos—to lend us eyes that we can see with—is Count Leo Tolstoy with his historical-based novel, War and Peace.

How long is War and Peace?  Well, when you’re scrolling through the table of contents and you see “First Epilogue: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc.,” then you know that you’re talking about a long book.  Page and font sizes vary, and if you’re reading digitally you may never even see a page number, but by comparison, War and Peace is definitely shorter than Les Miserables, and I think a little longer than The Count of Monte Cristo or Little Dorrit.

I’d put the age at 17+.  The language is simple, but the overall style of the book is not likely to be interesting to younger children and the Russian names are a bit of a speed bump.  Also, some of the characters are engaged in immoral behavior, which, although it’s not talked about in an inappropriate way, is not something 13– need to be reading about.

Feel free to skip to the end for my three sentence conclusion on the book, and then come back up for more details if you need them!

Continue reading “Book Review: War and Peace (by Leo Tolstoy)” →