War and Peace (Voina i mir) | Essays and Criticism

  • Benefits from Reading War and Peace

    In the following essay, Kelly discusses why the people most likely to avoid reading War and Peace are the ones who would probably enjoy and benefit from it most.

  • Life of Tolstoy

    In the following excerpt, Maude praises Tolstoy for his artistry, for "clearness of form and vividness of colour," for showing things as his characters saw them, and for presenting the soul of man "with unparalleled reality."

  • Tolstoy and the Novel

    In the following excerpt from his Tolstoy and the Novel, Bayley discusses the depiction of characters and historical events and the themes of life and death in War and Peace.

  • War and Peace

    Essay analyzing characterization in War and Peace.

  • War and Peace: Fifteen Years After

    In the following excerpt, Fadiman describes Tolstoy's writing as lacking in artistic style, suspense, and originality but also as clear, good, and able to express the ordinary and real.

  • War and Peace

    Essay critiquing Tolstoy's War and Peace.

  • Tolstoy's 'Peace and War'

    In the following review, the reviewer praises Tolstoy for his accurate presentation of how people act and talk and points to Tolstoy's presentation of the moral imperfection of all and of the folly of self-will in historical events.