War and Peace (For Further Study)

For Further Study

• Berlin, Isaiah, "Tolstoy and Enlightenment," in Mightier that the Sword, MacMillan & Co., 1964.

  An influential assessment of the often-repeated charge that Tolstoy was a good fiction writer but a flawed philosopher.

• Christian, R. F., Tolstoy's War and Peace: A Study, The Clarendon Press, 1962.

  A comprehensive and recommended study of the novel.

• Citati, Pietro, Tolstoy, Schocken Books, 1986.

  Written by an Italian literary critic, this is a short biography that introduces students to the key elements in Tolstoy's life and works.

• Crankshaw, Edward, Tolstoy: The Making of a Novelist, The Viking Press, 1974.

  Traces Tolstoy's development as a novelist.

• Crego Benson, Ruth, "Two Natashas," in Women in Tolstoy: The Ideal and the Erotic, University of Illinois Press, 1973.

  Examines the conflict between Tolstoy's portrayal of Natasha as a strong complex heroine and his tendency to see women only as objects of beauty.

• Debreczeny, Paul, "Freedom and Necessity: A Reconsideration of War and Peace," in Papers on Language and Literature: A Journal for Scholars and Critics of Language and Literature, No. 2, Spring, 1971.

  Debreczeny's understanding of Tolstoy's basic philosophy allows him to read the diverse aspects of the novel as one continuous, homogeneous narrative.

• Greenwood, E. B., "The Problem of Truth in War and Peace," in Tolstoy: The Comprehensive Vision, St. Martin's Press, 1975.

  Explores Tolstoy's interest in the problem of historical truth.

• Johnson, Claudia D., To Kill a Mockingbird: Threatening Boundaries, Twayne, 1994.

  A book-length analysis of the novel that provides historical and literary context as well as discussion of key themes and issues.

• Morrison, Gary Saul, Hidden in Plain View: Narrative and Creative Potentials in "War and Peace", Stanford University Press, 1987.

  Discusses the structure of the novel.

• Sampson, R. V., "Leo Tolstoy: 'God Sees the Truth, But Does Not Quickly Reveal It'," in The Discovery of Peace, Pantheon Books, 1973.

  Sampson examines several key writers who have influenced the history of the moral debate about war.

• Simmons, Ernest J., "War and Peace," in Introduction to Tolstoy's Writings, The University of Chicago Press, 1968.

  In this chapter in a book about the Tolstoy's major works, Simmons provides a stylistic and thematic analysis of the novel.