It is a novel that is probably more talked about than read. People think: "It's such a big book! It has such a serious theme!" The feeling that they are going to be taught a long, hard lesson often puts readers off. But really, War and Peace (1869), which tells the stories of five upper-class families in Russia at the time of the 1812 French invasion, is not to be missed. Reading this novel is one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences, like climbing the Great Wall: You will regret it if you do not try. 

Earlier this month, USA Today reported that a six-episode War and Peace miniseries produced by the BBC would air next year. 

With a complex plot and so many characters, readers unfamiliar with the work might be most interested in the characters from the financially-troubled Rostov family of Moscow. Count Rostov has four teenage children. Natasha is in love with Boris Drubetskoy, who is about to become an army officer. Nikolai Ilyich loves the poor Sonya, a ward of the family, but his family is not happy with their relationship. The proud Vera is about to start a happy marriage with a German-Russian officer. The youngest Rostov is the 9-year-old Petya, who, like his brother Nikolai, has his heart set on fighting for his country. 

The lives of all are about to be changed by the upcoming great war that involves many other major characters of War and Peace, such as Prince Andrei, who goes into a military career partly in order to get away from his unhappy marriage to the socialite Lise. 

The novel has a great reputation among many kinds of writers and millions of readers. US writer Ernest Hemingway wrote: "I don't know anybody who could write about war better than Tolstoy did." A comment by the great 20th-century Russian short-story writer Isaak Babel shows the rich sense of history that Tolstoy's work conveys. "If the world itself could write, it would write like Tolstoy," Babel commented.
What is the name of the book?
Which year it was published?
How many families in the storyline?
What social class they belonged to?
Of which country?
Is there any tv miniseries about it?
Which new outlet made that?
When it will be aired?
Did Hemingway have a high opinion about the novel?
Anyone else commented about the novel?
Who?
Going back to the story - how many kid Rostov had?
Where they young?
Did Rostov do well financially?
What was one of the kid's name?
How old was he?
Who was the older brother?
Who did he love?
Is Vera getting married?
Whom?
War and Peace
War and Peace
1869
1869
five
five upper-class families
upper
upper-class families
Russia
Russia
Yes
USA Today reported that a six-episode War and Peace miniseries produced by the BBC would air next year.
BBC
BBC
next year
next year
Yes
Ernest Hemingway wrote: "I don't know anybody who could write about war better than Tolstoy did."
Yes
"If the world itself could write, it would write like Tolstoy," Babel commented.
Babel
Babel commented.
four
four teenage children
teenagers
teenage children.
unknown
unknown
Petya
Petya
Nine
The youngest Rostov is the 9-year-old Petya
Nikolai
Nikolai
his country
his heart set on fighting for his country
Yes
The proud Vera is about to start a happy marriage with a German-Russian officer.
a German-Russian officer.
a German-Russian officer.