War and Peace — Leo Tolstoy | Reader’s Companion | Coleman’s Notes CN-

War and Peace can appear daunting: an enormous cast of Russian names, interconnecting families, military campaigns, historical personalities, philosophical arguments and more than a thousand pages of fiction.

Coleman’s Notes® CN-051 — War and Peace is designed to make Tolstoy’s extraordinary work easier to navigate without simplifying what makes it great.

Follow Pierre Bezukhov, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, Natasha and Nikolai Rostov, Princess Marya, Sonya, Hélène and Anatole Kuragin, Kutuzov, Napoleon and many more as their individual lives become entangled with the Napoleonic Wars and the French invasion of Russia.

The companion takes you through all 15 Books and both parts of Tolstoy’s Epilogue, combining clear explanation of the narrative with deeper consideration of character, history, philosophy and literary technique.

Discover why Austerlitz changes Prince Andrei’s understanding of glory; how Natasha’s vitality can become both her greatest strength and her vulnerability; why Pierre moves from wealth and intellectual speculation towards a radically different understanding of happiness; why Tolstoy contrasts Napoleon and Kutuzov; and why the author repeatedly questions whether the people traditionally described as “great men” really control history at all.

The guide explores the five principal families and provides a practical guide to Russian names, patronymics and titles, helping remove one of the biggest barriers for first-time readers.

It also examines war and heroism • love and marriage • family • faith • death • freedom and necessity • Russian identity • serfdom and class • Moscow and Petersburg • Napoleon and Kutuzov • history and historical causation • narrative technique • symbolism • language and translation.

A dedicated Quotations & Key Passages section identifies important moments to revisit, while the Translation Guide explains why wording can differ significantly between English editions.

The companion concludes with critical interpretations, comparative-study ideas, 50 reading and discussion questions, and a Quick Revision & Recall section.

Ideal for

Readers approaching War and Peace for the first time, readers returning to Tolstoy after many years, literature students undertaking independent or comparative study, university students, tutors, reading groups and anyone who wants to explore the novel beyond the plot.

CN-051 | Coleman’s Notes® Reader’s Companion Series | £10.95

Russian Literature Collection 1 — £49.95

War and Peace • Anna Karenina • Crime and Punishment • The Brothers Karamazov • Fathers and Sons

Five individual companions: £54.75

Collection price: £49.95

You save £4.80

Coleman’s Notes®

READ • REFLECT • EXPLORE • UNDERSTAND