A grand, romantic saga of two noble Russian families and a multitude of lives swept up in the violent tumult of the Napoleonic Wars, Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace" is considered one of the preeminent literary works of all time. Tolstoy originally completed this novel in 1866, but it was not until years later--after the author had doubled the book's length with philosophical and historical meditations--that the great novel was published. More than half a century in the making, the result of extraordinary dedication and pains-taking research, here is Tolstoy's original version of this timeless classic, which never made it into print during the author's lifetime. Now readers can enjoy the epic and unforgettable story as the novelist originally intended--with its subtly different characters, dialogue, and ending--and experi-ence anew the breathtaking masterpiece that has inspired love and devotion for generations.

'The greatest of all novelists -- for what else can we call the author of "War and Peace"?' Virginia Woolf

'The pure narrative power of Tolstoy's work is unequalled. To read him is to find one's way home, to everything within us that is fundamental and sane.' Thomas Mann

'What an artist and what a psychologist! It seems to me there are some passages worthy of Shakespeare. I found myself crying out in admiration while reading.' Gustave Flaubert