Covering all of Leo Tolstoy’s mythically long-winded novel is no task for mere mortals, but Ryan Gladstone is up to the task. War and Peace is a funny, smart, and heartfelt treatment of one of history’s greatest works of literature.
The story is told in many layers: the plot of the novel itself, often played straight but poked fun at when necessary; the echoes of Tolstoy’s own life, including his depression and his youthful habits of gambling and womanizing; the historical context of the Russian setting; and the context of Tolstoy’s own writing of the novel, including the...
