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War and Peace

By: Leo Tolstoy
Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
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Publisher's Summary

Often called the greatest novel ever written, War and Peace is at once an epic of the Napoleonic wars, a philosophical study, and a celebration of the Russian spirit. Tolstoy's genius is clearly seen in the multitude of characters in this massive chronicle, all of them fully realized and equally memorable. Out of this complex narrative emerges a profound examination of the individual's place in the historical process, one that makes it clear why Thomas Mann praised Tolstoy for his Homeric powers and placed War and Peace in the same category as The Iliad.

 War and Peace was translated by Constance Garnett.

Public Domain (P)2009 Blackstone Audio

What listeners say about War and Peace

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Great text, terrible reading

One of the greatest novels ever written, made difficult by narration lacking passion and charisma.

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8 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Profound insight into human existence

An epic in its scale of historical events, the unfolding of its characters' and the philosophical terrain they navigate. without doubt the most enlightening combination of fiction, history and philosophy I have encountered! Outstanding performance from its reader.

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5 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars

Great for what it is. Not very climatic.

Great work and excellent writing, but very hard to follow because of the difference between today's language and the way it is written.

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4 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The Narrator Lets it Down.

The narrator has one range.
Pompous and condescending.
It works for the upper class portions of the book but fails entirely when reading scenes war.
It's as if this were a sixties British children's animation narration for 60 hours straight.

I was unable to make it more than about 10% in and gave up.

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2 people found this helpful

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A struggle to listen to

There seem to be two different objects in this book and the only thing connecting these two are the Napoleonic wars in Russia. There is a storyline that just appears out of nowhere and dribbles on without actually going anywhere and just stops without an actual conclusion.
Then there is Tolstois philosopgical rflection on history and the science of history in general and in particular in regards to the Napoleonic wars.
I found listening to it very hard. It would probably be much easier to read this work of literature and to glean any meaning from it. As an audio book it is a struggle.

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  • Ben
  • 01-07-2021

richard fidler said this would be like chocolate

this is that disgusting easter egg chocolate that has been sitting in the fridge for 2 weeks and started going white.. maybe I'm too young too appreciate this. the war part with napolean was good. the other 60% of peace was a snoozefest

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The 2nd Epilogue is torture

A very enjoyable story, I actually loved the narration, it felt appropriate for the nature of the characters. The second epilogue though, why does he drag it on like that? I’ve been listening for 59 hours already, please wrap it up, this is just waffling, it’s not necessary!

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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Pretentious narrator

Couldn’t bare the narrator- didn’t get through it. Shame, wish I could block the presenting narrator so he doesn’t come up again on books

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

I first read this book twenty years ago. It was hard to fathom such a profound book detailing on a fraction of the Napoleonic wars.
This time around, I was able to watch reconstructions of the Battles at Leipzig, Borodino and even the Duke of Wellington’s campaigns in Spain in the lead up to Napoleon’s defeat in 1812.
It’s fascinating to read of Napoleon being referred to as the “enemy of humanity”. In future years we shall read of the Russo Ukraine conflict which appears to be just as disastrous for the Russian troops as Napoleon’s 1812 campaign with Le Grande Armee.
The narration is superb and I was able to follow the reading at 1.65 playback. Well worth a listen.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

awful reading

such an awful reading of this wonderful text. forced, contrite and downright distracting. looking for a better version

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