Leo Tolstoy's 1869 epic novel following five Russian aristocratic families through the Napoleonic Wars — widely considered one of the greatest novels ever written — notable for its scale, psychological depth, philosophical meditations on history, and the argument that great historical events are not driven by great men but by countless small acts.
Creates the definitive argument against the 'great man' theory of history through fiction — Tolstoy's War and Peace shows Napoleon as bewildered by events as everyone else, arguing that historical causation emerges from millions of individual decisions rather than the will of leaders.
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