Leo Tolstoy’s novel, “War and Peace,” is a book for all time. It feels as though it has always existed; the text seems instantly familiar the moment we open the first pages, and many of its episodes are unforgettable: the hunt and the Christmas celebrations, Natasha Rostova’s first ball, the moonlit night in Otradnoye, Prince Andrei at the Battle of Austerlitz... Scenes of “peaceful” family life alternate with events significant to the course of world history, yet for Tolstoy, they are equally valuable, bound together in a single stream of time. Each episode is vital not only for plot development but also as one of the countless manifestations of life—a life saturated in every moment that Tolstoy teaches us to love. This edition features the complete set of illustrations for the novel “War and Peace,” created by the outstanding Czech artist Stanislav Hudeček (1872–1947).