Tolstoy’s War and Peace: Introduction to the Series of Broadcasts

1943

Brasch PG3411 V6 BU97

London: BBC

Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828-1910) was born into an aristocratic family. As a university student, he was distracted by various social pursuits, which included gambling. He left without graduating. Childhood, Tolstoy’s first novel, was published in 1852. He continued to write across a variety of genres, usually telling stories of life in Russia. Tolstoy’s novel, War and Peace, was published in its entirety in 1869. It is his most famous and celebrated work. Part chronicle, part historical novel, and part essay, it has been described as ‘cinematic in scope’ and the ‘greatest novel ever written’. This pamphlet is an introduction to the BBC Home Service’s eight-part series of War and Peace, which was broadcast in 1943.