'A book that you don't just read, you live' Simon Schama   Tolstoy's magnificent epic novel of love, conflict, fate and human life in all its imperfection and grandeur  War and Peace begins at a glittering society party in St Petersburg in 1805, where conversations are dominated by the prospect of war. Terror swiftly engulfs the country as Napoleon's army marches on Russia, and the lives of three young people are changed forever. The stories of quixotic Pierre, cynical Andrey and impetuous Natasha interweave with a huge cast, from aristocrats and peasants to soldiers and Napoleon himself.  Translated with an Introduction and Notes by Anthony Briggs with an Afterword by Orlando Figes