The epic Tolstoy novel. Probably the greatest novel of all time. With color reproductions of ten painings by Vasily Vereshchagin.According to Wikipedia: 'Leo Tolstoy, or Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828 -1910) was a Russian writer widely regarded as one of the greatest of all novelists. His masterpieces War and Peace and Anna Karenina stand, in their scope, breadth and vivid depiction of 19th-century Russian life, at the very peak of realist fiction... Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin (Russian: Васи́лий Васи́льевич Вереща́гин, October 26, 1842 - April 13, 1904) was one of the most famous Russian war artists and one of the first Russian artists to be widely recognized abroad. The graphic nature of his realist scenes led many of them to never be printed or exhibited... Aylmer Maude (28 March 1858 - 25 August 1938) and Louise Maude (1855-1939) were English translators of Tolstoy's works, and Aylmer Maude also wrote his friend Tolstoy's biography. After living many years in Russia the Maudes spent the rest of their life in England translating Tolstoy's writing and promoting public interest in his work.'