Leo Tolstoy, graf

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[from Wikipedia] War and Peace(pre-reform Russian:Война́ и миръ; post-reformRussian:Война́ и мир,translit.Voyn i mir[vɐjˈna i ˈmʲir]) is anovelby the Russian authorLeo Tolstoy. It is regarded as one of the central works of world literature.[1][2][3]War and Peaceand Tolstoy's other major prose work,Anna Karenina(187577), are considered Tolstoy's finest literary achievements. The novel charts the history of theFrench invasion of Russia, and the impact of theNapoleonic eraonTsaristsociety, through the stories of five Russianaristocraticfamilies. Portions of an earlier version, titledThe Year 1805,[4]were serialized inThe Russian Messengerbetween 1865 and 1867. The novel was first published in its entirety in 1869.[5]Newsweekin 2009 ranked it first in itsTop 100 Books.[6]In 2007,Timemagazine rankedWar and Peacethird in its poll of the 10 greatest books of all time whileAnna Kareninawas ranked first.[7] Tolstoy himself said thatWar and Peacewas "not a novel, even less is it a poem, and still less a historical chronicle". Large sections, especially in the later chapters, are philosophical discussion rather than narrative.[8]He also said that the best Russian literature does not conform to standards and hence hesitated to callWar and Peacea novel. Instead, he regardedAnna Kareninaas his first true novel. According to theEncyclopdia Britannica, "no single English novel attains the universality of Leo Tolstoy'sWar and Peace."[9]