Vojna a mír BOX 1-2 – Tolstoj Lev Nikolajevič (2025)

This Czech-language, newly illustrated edition of Leo Tolstoy’s monumental novel includes dozens of paintings by award-winning illustrator Igor Karash and hundreds of black-and-white drawings by renowned artist Feliks Topolski. Set against the Napoleonic Wars, War and Peace presents a rich, multilayered portrait of early nineteenth-century Russian society, where great historical events intertwine with the inner transformations of its principal characters. Personal dilemmas, romantic dramas and profound struggles over love, honour, faith and the meaning of life unfold within the broader social and historical context of a turbulent era that fundamentally changed the face of Russia. The skilful connection of these two perspectives gives the novel an extraordinary depth and complexity. This new Czech edition also includes an afterword by Tolstoy scholar Gary Saul Morson, who explores the writer’s contribution not only as a master of literature but also as a philosophical thinker. Tolstoy rejects mechanical explanations of history and life, emphasising instead the uniqueness of each present moment and the unpredictable decisions and coincidences that shape human existence. War and Peace thus becomes a profound reflection on time, history, freedom and the nature of life itself.