category i: tolstoy - the man, the myth, the legend
entry on encyclopedia britannica: everything you could ever want to know about the count. includes biography, significance, facts, and quizzes
tolstoy timeline by h1bak on timetoast: interactive timeline that puts tolstoy’s life and achievements into greater socio-political context
category ii: war and peace and historical background
section i: war
napoleon’s russian campaign on pbs: also features overview of his other campaigns, life in the army, and a battlefield simulator
napoleon’s russian campaign: from the neimen to moscow by napoleon.org: thorough day-by-day timeline of the campaign, great if you’re making a timeline and/or map
everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the battle of borodino
the battle of austerlitz: abbreviated version of the wikipedia page by mcgill university
bonus! tchaikovsky’s 1812 overture conducted by leonard bernstein. this recording doesn’t feature any actual artillery but it is my favourite so, there
section ii: peace
the 19th century in russian history by rusmania: tsars, wars, railways, and revolts
russian history from 1801-1917 on encyclopedia britannia
map of russia in the 19th century: shows territorial gains colour-coded by tsar. the one relevant to our reading, alexander i, is green
category iii: reading help
study guide by shmoop: great for chapter-by-chapter and analysis, includes bonus resources not included here
7 tips to help you read war and peace by coffee books and cake
leo tolstoy’s war and peace: an audio guide by amy mandelker: mandelker revised the maude translation that the notes are coming from so she really knows her stuff! 9 episodes about history, translation, context, and reader approaches
category iv: adaptations
war and peace (1956) dir. king vidor. italian-english production, with audrey hepburn and henry fonda that focuses predominantly on the natasha-pierre-andrey plot. 208 mins.
war and peace (1966-7) dir. sergey bondarchuk. russian production starring bondarchuk as pierre alongside ludmila savelyeva as natasha, considered the definitive version. 422 mins. subtitled 4k restoration on youtube - part i, part ii, part iii, part iv
war & peace (1972) dir. john davies. bbc series starring anthony hopkins and morag hood. 20 episodes, 890 mins. episode playlist on youtube here
war & peace (2016) dir. tom harper. bbc one series starring many famous people. 6 episodes, 379 mins. episode playlist on youtube here
natasha, pierre & the great comet of 1812 (2016) electropop sung-through musical by dave malloy based on 70 pages of book 2. a masterpiece. my favourite musical. original off-broadway cast recording with dave malloy and philippa soo available here, and original broadway cast recording with denée benton and john groban available here. if you search “great comet” on youtube dot com you may or may not find the whole show but you didn’t hear it from me
war and peace on screen: our good friend amy mandelker compares a few cinematic adaptations
category v: tolstoy’s other work
anna karenina (1878) the other heavy-hitter, shorter than war & peace but still a 700-800 page investment. a variety of translations1 to choose from; skip the introduction if you want to avoid spoilers. the 1901 translation by constance garnett is availble on project gutenberg
the 2012 joe wright film with keira knightley, aaron taylor-johnson, and many other famous people is…interesting in its framing and stylization but i wouldn’t necessarily call it a good adaptation, but it’s the only one i’ve seen
childhood, boyhood, youth (1852-1856) autobiographical trilogy; later disowned by tolstoy for sentimentality. the c.j. hogarth translations from 1912 are linked above, and you can get the whole trilogy as one book (about 300 pages).
resurrection (1899) the last of tolstoy’s major novels; outside both w&p and anna k, plus its publication led to tolstoy’s excommunication from the orthodox church two years later. louise maude’s translation is availble through project gutenberg (about 550 pages)
the death of ivan ilyich (1886) frequently taught novella translated by the usual suspects. free version available through the anarchist library, but does not list a translator
tolstoy left behind a substanial body of short stories, fables, plays, criticism, philosophy, and novellas which were not included for the sake of brevity. this list is only a small fraction of what is available.
see you jan 1st!
love from kit (and tolstoy’s ghost)
fwiw i read the rosamund bartlett translation (oxford university press, 2014) in less than a month partly out of spite. the prose is quite lovely but the notes are somewhat lacking.