War and Peace published in complete book form

Background. War and Peace is an epic novel by Russian author Leo Tolstoy. An early version was published serially beginning in 1865, after which the entire book was rewritten and published in 1869. Portions of an earlier version, titled The Year 1805, were serialized in The Russian Messenger from 1865 to 1867 before the novel was published in its entirety in 1869.

Publication Process. Tolstoy was dissatisfied with the initial serialized version, although he allowed several parts of it to be published with a different ending in 1867. He heavily rewrote the entire novel between 1866 and 1869. The version that was published in Russkiy Vestnik had a very different ending from the version eventually published under the title War and Peace in 1869.

Author Identity. Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer. He is considered one of the giants of Russian literature, with works including the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Tolstoy did not consider War and Peace to be a novel, viewing it as a genre merger.