5.0 out of 5 stars good translation

P.G. · October 4, 2025

Despite taking our book club a year to read it, the end result was worthwhile. This translation, which keeps all the French (the language of the elite) in the text captures the underlying themes of how war can change people, mostly for the better, assuming you can survive it. The book led me down some additional rabbit holes, like finding out that the main eye wittiness account of the burning of Moscow was a traveling French actress.

5.0 out of 5 stars Translation Matters

M.P. · October 23, 2017

I have read several versions of War and Peace. If the Maude translation were half as good as it is, it would be the TWO best versions I had ever read of this masterpiece.Published in 1869, this great saga works on many levels. It is an intimate snapshot of the cultured classes of Tsarist Russia around the time of Napoleon's ill-fated invasion: glittering, provincial, backbiting and sublime all at the same time. It is a study of the fog of war, the clash of ambition, the lust for promotion, and the petty, toxic vanity of those who prefer to be in charge of a loss than a mere part of a victory. It is a contemplation on the "great man" and the "great events" theories of history. (Spoiler alert: it rejects both as inadequate and pretentious). It is a meditation on religion, the meaning of life, on what constitutes real happiness. All of this is accomplished through the day-to-day interactions of ordinary people - with Napoleon, the Tsar, and General Kutuzov all painted in the same ordinary terms.There are moments of staggering sagacity. In an early scene, the primary character, Pierre Bezukhov, unintentionally insults a devout religious pilgrim whose beliefs he finds silly. When she understands the insult and tearfully goes to take her leave, Pierre (now deeply mortified) apologizes with such heart-felt penitence that she forgives him the offense. Would that such magnanimous solicitude for another, even when we disagree with him, would make a comeback.Just before Napoleon enters Moscow to take it captive, the glitterati of the military and the Imperial Court are busy jockeying for position, maliciously attacking and slandering each other, ever looking for an opportunity to make others the ledge upon which their ambitions might climb. It is petty, grasping and pathetic - and it is all wiped away in a moment as the French Emperor shows how grubby their little ambitions are in the face of his concentrated force. But once he has taken the city, Napoleon has nowhere to go and no subjects to cheer him, as Moscow's inhabitants have fled and set fire to the city. The "liberator" of Moscow finally realizes he has gone a bridge too far, removed from his supply lines, and with a Russian winter coming on, no less. His hubris and success have undone him - and the folksies of Moscow did NOT play to script by welcoming him as their liberator. Thus the wages of stratagems turned obsessions.When Moscow was captured, Pierre was taken prisoner by the French. A staggeringly wealthy, titled man, he lived in complete poverty and fear for several months. After the French retreated and he escaped, considering his sufferings, Pierre asked himself, "Would you rather be what you were before you were taken prisoner...we imagine that when we are thrown out of our familiar rut all is lost, but that is only when something new and good can begin." Pierre's captivity completed him. Already a good man, it forged something of greatness in his large heart.The Maude translation keeps the substantial passages written in French from the original (while helpfully offering translations in footnotes). I read French, so it was not jarring - and actually a little pleasing - to me. It may be disruptive for those who have to constantly go to the footnotes to see what was said. But Tolstoy actually used this as a literary device. Those things written in French were to be shown as artificial and contrived, while those written in Russian to be earthy and authentic. Even if you don't read French, knowing what he intended with this device will help you see the author's point of view more clearly. It is not an accident that the main character, Pierre Bezukhov, uses the French first name, "Pierre," instead of the Russian "Pyotr," while his last name is robustly Russian. It hints at the character's trajectory.In the last third of the book, Tolstoy embarks on several extended passages of pure political philosophy. Quite bluntly, he is a far more astute philosopher in his narrative than in his actual political opining. If this is your first read of the book, you will probably want to trudge through these muddled passages. I skip them over now, for they add nothing to the narrative and, I think, badly interrupt its flow. He does the same thing in Anna Karenina. It is annoying tic, but it is the tic of a genuine literary genius.When you start the novel, you may well think, "How am I ever going to get through 1,300 pages of this?" By the time you finish, you have come to so love the community of characters you wish you could remain with them for another 1,300 pages.All of Tolstoy's characters are deeply complex and authentic. The best have significant flaws, the worst, unexpected virtues.

5.0 out of 5 stars Best translation of a great novel

p. · December 30, 2014

Translations of War and Peace eventually have to deal with a thorny problem that won't go away: the French dialog. The Maude translation presents it entirely in English, while the P&V translation provides the French dialog, with translated notes. But is it worth worrying about?I read the beloved Maude translation years ago, and enjoyed the book thoroughly. It's all in English, and it works just fine. The problem is that French dialog is integral to the book's meaning; Russian nobles and intelligentsia at that time used French extensively, almost as a second language. And that's where we see Tolstoy's ironic humor. Napoleon is tearing a rent in civilization, killing thousands, and Russia is committed to a full defense. At the same time, Russians are beholden to the French for their intellectual heritage; the intelligentsia uses French almost as much as Russian. War and Peace is set at a time when Russia began to say farewell to French its trappings and become truly Russian.So, it's important to include the original French dialog from War and Peace, if only to highlight the book's irony. This edition updates the text, and includes French dialog whenever called for. It's an excellent choice, but there's a hitch: while most translations show translations on the same page, the Kindle edition makes you tap on a footnote number, which brings you to an appendix in another part of the book. It would have been much better if the translation were to appear at the bottom of the page - a convention you'll find in the P&V translation. But the Maude translation is smoother and more accessible, all in all. If you're going to read a that's over a thousand pages long, it's best to have the more readable version.

4.0 out of 5 stars a little damaged

o. · February 26, 2023

it’s a beautiful book (very thick too) but yes it came in a little damaged. i’ll admit, damaged books don’t bother me because it gives a book character & i actually like that but if you don’t like that beware of this. my book had a large crease down the back of the book, it’s squished up like it needs heavy books on top of it to straighten it out and there’s some black smudge on the bottom of the book idk why.i’m very excited to begin this book

Great novel, very interesting

A.S. · December 22, 2025

The story of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace denotes French and the Russians in the year 1812. (2) During this period, the peace period, it describes the life of the Russian aristocracy, the Bezukhovs, Bolkonskys, Rostovs, Kuragins, and Drubestkoys. I will touch a little on the life of Perre Bezukhov, the illegitimate son of Count Bezukhov who had returned to Russia after gaining his education in France. He had acquired his wealth from his father who left all his inheritance to him before he died. He was ensnared by the fortune hunting, the Countess, Helene Kuragina, whom he married. There were rumours that his wife was unfaithful to him, and being depressed, he left all possessions for her and moved to Petersburg to live in his mansion and to oversee his estate and his peasants. He was approached by a desciple of the Freemasons who implored him to relinquish all his wealth and to travel and preach the Gospel of the Lodge. He did not give up his possessions but he freed his peasants, built schools and hospitals and eased the lactating mothers from working on the estates when their children were young. In 1812, Napoleon, being the Emperor of France and directly above the Commander in Chief, Murat, crossed the Nieman River into Russian territory, captured Vilnius and then Smolensk. Napoleon had aimed for a quick battle but the Russian forces led by Barclay de Tolly used the strategy of retreat and drawing the French deeper into Russia. As the Russians retreated, they burned cities, crops and supplies. The French faced hardships from storm, disease and desertion. They then captured Borodino and Smolensk and then marched the four hundred kilometres to Moscow. There was no engagement between the two armies from Smolensk to Moscow. His Excellency Alexander of Russia declared a proclamation that all the wealthy inhabitants should pack their most needed household items and take their carriages and vacate the city. He then directed that the peasants would burn the important buildings and make life unpleasant for the French soldiers. Meanwhile, the Russian soldiers under the Army General, Kutuzov, marched behind, and as they neared Moscow, circumvented the city, and kept his army in neighbouring villages. The French soldiers, as ordered by the Generals, began looting of the stores and barns and even the houses. It must be noted that when the French soldiers entered the city, there was at least six months supply of food, booths, and winter clothing for all the soldiers but they never thought of loading the carriages for the retreat. In the latter part of 1812, when the French soldiers were retreating, the question was asked whether the Russian soldiers did not cut them off and capture them. These are the answers: Firstly, it was senseless to capture the French soldiers when they were disorganized and fleeing from Russia. Secondly, it would be senseless to block the passage of men whose whole energy was directed to flight. Thirdly, it would be senseless to sacrifice their own army in order to destroy the French army since it was destroying itself by the cold and frost and hunger. Fourthly, it would have been senseless to take captive the Army General and Emperor whose capture would have been the highest degree of embarrassment to the Russians. After the war had concluded, at a ceremony in honour of Kutuzov, he was presented Russia’s highest Order by the Emperor and praised for his shrewd leadership in saving Moscow and Russia from Napoleon. Almost nearing the end of his journey, Leo Tolstoy was trapped between two identities. Leo Tolstoy the literary genius, the author of the most celebrated War and Peace and Anna Carenina, and Leo Tolstoy the spiritual seeker. But his wife, Sophia and his children paid the price of his greatness. Sophia bore him thirteen children, read and reread and edited his War and Peace seven times, managed the home and estate, and negotiated with the publisher, and in the end, Tolstoy wanted to relinquish everything and put everyone on the street because of his religious belief. But Sophia objected to his scheme and enquired about what would happen to their children. He was eighty two when he snuck out of the house with his youngest daughter Alexandra, leaving a note for his wife who had loved him for forty eight years. They boarded the train and he travelled third class and the cold took a toll on his body. At Astapovo the stationmaster gave up his apartment to make him comfortable. He died ten days later surrounded by the deciples and journalists, but his wife was not allowed to see him although she begged them to let her in. Only after he died they allowed her in and she hugged and kissed him and asked for forgiveness.After the war had concluded, at a ceremony in honour of Kutuzov, he was presented Russia’s highest Order by the Emperor and praised for his shrewd leadership in saving Moscow and Russia from Napoleon. Almost nearing the end of his journey, Leo Tolstoy was trapped between two identities. Leo Tolstoy the literary genius, the author of the most celebrated War and Peace and Anna Carenina, and Leo Tolstoy the spiritual seeker. But his wife, Sophia and his children paid the price of his greatness. Sophia bore him thirteen children, read and reread and edited his War and Peace seven times, managed the home and estate, and negotiated with the publisher, and in the end, Tolstoy wanted to relinquish everything and put everyone on the street because of his religious belief. But Sophia objected to his scheme and enquired about what would happen to their children. He was eighty two when he snuck out of the house with his youngest daughter Alexandra, leaving a note for his wife who had loved him for forty eight years. They boarded the train and he travelled third class and the cold took a toll on his body. At Astapovo the stationmaster gave up his apartment to make him comfortable. He died ten days later surrounded by the deciples and journalists, but his wife was not allowed to see him although she begged them to let her in. Only after he died they allowed her in and she hugged the body and begged for forgiveness. Tolstoy wrote two of the greatest novels, War and Peace and Anna Carenina- stories about the complexity of human relationships, but he could not live those values. He preached compassion but showed cruelty to his wife. He wrote beautifully about love but could not show love to his wife. “Because greatness does not exclude cruelty. Brilliant ideas do not justify abandoning the people who love you. And philosophy means nothing if it destroys the human relationships it is supposed to improve.” Prepared by: A. Sharma.

Rapidez

R.M. · September 4, 2022

Excelente

Best translation

L. · March 7, 2022

This is only a review of the translation.Translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude who knew Tolstoy well and he approved of the translation. So counted as the most faithful one.This one is revised and edited by Amy Mandelker and has a very good flow when reading it. (I have 3 different War and Peace translations)I have the one who's not edited but prefer this one. It also have a nice font and size with makes it comfortable to read.So I highly recommend this one.Side note. A plus for having maps.

Look like used book

f. · December 1, 2024

The edge of the book cover is peel off

Great!

M.J. · November 23, 2025

Great!