Volume 1: Book 3 - Chapter 7

Characters Present:

Nicholas Rostóv
Boris Drubetskóy
Prince Andrew Bolkónski

Location:

A camp 10 miles from Olmütz

Boris arrives at the camp to deliver a letter, some money from his family, and a letter of recommendation to General Bagratíon from Rostóvs family and Princess Anna Mikháylovna Drubetskáya.

Rostóv casts the letter of recommendation on to the floor, saying he doesn't want to be an adjutant, and Boris says that it would be better than being on the front line. 

Nicholas recounts the epic story of how he was wounded, leaving out the bit about falling of his horse and running away from the French.  

Halfway through the story, Prince Andrew comes in, and rolls his eyes in response to all of the bragging, and says he will come back later to talk to Boris.  Nicholas takes great offense, and the two have a heated exchange of words, ending with Bolkónski saying that he didn't take offense, as Nicholas is young and his rudeness was of not matter to him.

Book 3 - Chapter 6

Characters Present/Discussed:

Count Ilya Rostóv
Countess Natalya Rostova
Natasha Rostova
Nicholas Rostóv
Sonya Rostova
Princess Anna Mikháylovna Drubetskáya (still staying with the Rostóv family, though her circumstances have improved)

Location:

The Rostóv house

Count Ilya Rostóv receives a letter from his son, Nicholas, saying that though he had been wounded in the battle, he had been promoted to an officer.

Princess Anna Mikháylovna Drubetskáya goes about giving hints about the letter to Countess Natalya Rostova, who is of such a fragile disposition that the letter, if announced suddenly, would upset her terribly.

Natasha and Sonya both gossip about the letter and Sonya is still in love with Nicholas.

Eventually the countess is told and she cries, and then proudly reads the letter to everyone who visits.

Book 3 - Chapter 5

Characters Present:

Prince Nicholas Bolkónski
Princess Mary Bolkónskaya
Mademoiselle Bourienne
Prince Anatole Kurágin

Location:

Bald Hill Estate

Everybody has gone to bed and Prince Nicholas, Princess Mary and Mademoiselle Bourienne are all having trouble sleeping.

When Princess Mary goes to her father for her morning lessons, he shouts at her to take an hour to decide whether she is to become Prince Anatole's wife.  On her way out of his study, she catches Prince Anatole and Mademoiselle Bourienne in a passionate embrace. 

Princess Mary later declines the offer of marriage made by Prince Vasíle for his son and Prince Nicholas is delighted.

Princess Mary goes to comfort Mademoiselle Bourienne and makes the decision to help her marry Prince Anatole, and give her money if this will help her.

Book 3 - Chapter 4

Characters Present:

Old Prince Nicholas Bolkónski
Princess Mary Bolkónskaya (Prince Nicholas's daughter)
Princess Lisa Bolkónskaya (Prince Nicholas's pregnant daughter-in-law)
Prince Vasíli Kurágin
Prince Anatole Kurágin (Prince Vasíli's son)
Mademoiselle Bourienne

Location:

Bald Hill Estate. 

Prince Nicholas is taking his time to get dressed, as he is cranky that Prince Vasíli and his son have arrived, and he is also considering whether he wants to give his daughter, Princess Mary, over to marriage. 

Prince Nicholas joins the others and mildly interrogates Anatole, before taking Prince Vasíli off to shout at him, and says that if Anatole is to marry Mary, that he is to prove himself worthy.

Meanwhile, the three women - Princess Mary in particular - are enchanted by Prince Anatole, though he is described as good looking but without much to say.

Prince Antatole fails to find Princess Mary attractive but is falling for Mademoiselle Bourienne's charms.  Mary mistakes Mademoiselle Bourienne's intentions, and the scene is set for heartbreak and disappointment.

Book 3 - Chapter 3

Characters Present:

Old Prince Nicholas Bolkónski
Princess Mary Bolkónskaya (daughter of Prince Nicholas)
Prince Vasíli Kuragin
Anatole Kuragin (Vasíli's son)
Mademoiselle Bourienne (Mary's companion)
Princes Lisa Bolkónskaya (Prince Andrew Bolkónski's pregnant wife)

Location: 

Bald Hill Estate

Old Prince Nicholas receives a letter from Prince Vasíli, stating his intention to visit with his son in a fortnight.  It seems that Vasíli is to bring his son, Anatole, to meet Princess Mary with the intention of marrying them off.

Prince Nicholas dislikes Prince Vasíli and goes out of the house on the morning of their arrival to shout at the guards for clearing the driveway of snow, and orders them to replace it. 

Princess Mary is a bit nervous about the arrival of their guests and things are made worse when Princess Lisa and Mademoiselle Bourienne try to make her look attractive.  They go overboard, and Princess Mary ends up looking worse than before, and tells them to leave her alone.

Book 3 - Chapter 2

Characters Present:

Prince Vasíli Kuragin
Princess Aline Kuragina (Vasíli's wife)
Princess Anna Mikháylovna Drubetskáya
Anna Pávlovna
Count Pierre Bezukhov
Other guests

Location:

Prince Vasíli's house

It is Hélène's birthday and Vasíli and Aline are throwing her a small party.  Pierre has grown increasingly obsessed with Hélène and is now trying overcome his belief that she is a bit dim. 

It gets to the end of the evening and though they are sitting alone chatting, Pierre still cannot ask her to marry him.  Prince Vasíli Kuragin keeps being awkward and going over to see what is happening, and eventually pretends that he had heard from his wife that they were now engaged, and congratulates them both on their engagement very publicly.

Pierre and Hélène get married six weeks later.

Book 3 - Chapter 1

N.B For context go back to Book 1 - Chapters 19-24

Characters Present:

Prince Vasíli Kurágin
Count Pierre Bezukhov
Anna Pávlovna
Hélène Kuragina - daughter of Prince Vasíli Kuragin

Location: 

Moscow generally, then Anna Pávlovna's drawing room.

Vasíli has taken it upon himself to manage Pierre's riches, and is taking advantage of Pierre's trust by paying himself with several thousand rubles, taken from Pierre's peasants.  He is also trying to get Pierre to marry his daughter, Hélène. 

Pierre attends a tea at Anna Pávlovna's house and she purposefully places him in conversation with Hélène.  She stands rather advantageously to her figure and he gets wooed by her cleavage, thinking that he must, must marry her.   He leaves and is pulled between thoughts of her beauty, and how stupid he thinks she is.

Book 2 - Chapter 21

Characters Present:

Captain Tushín

Nicholas Rostóv

Prince Andrew Bolkónski

General Bagratión

some other officers

Location: 

Znaime

It is nightfall and the battle is coming to an end.   Rostóv, still with a wounded arm, rides on one of the canons in Captain Tushín's battery until they set camp for the evening.

Tushín is called into a hut that has some high-ranking officers and General Bagratión dining in it.  Bagratión scolds him in front of everyone for losing two guns in the battle.  Tushín, who is on the brink of exhaustion, apologises and is then unable to say anything, lest he implicate other officers.  Bolkónski, furious, speaks out and says that Tushín actually saved the day and that they should be thanking him.  

It is revealed that the French do not attack again on the following day and that the remains of Bagratión's detachment are reunited to Kutúzov's army.

End of Book 2

Book 2 - Chapter 20

Characters Present: 

The German colonel from the last chapter

Dólokhov

Major Ekonómov (first appearance)

Captain Tushín

Prince Andrew Bolkónski

Location:

Znaim

The German general charges into the cut-off copse on his horse in a panic to see whether his men are being killed horribly, and happily, the pressure on the Germans has been eased by some Russian sharp-shooters.

Dólokhov has been killing the French shows several trophies in the way of personal items to Major Ekonómov, wishing to be remembered for his heroism.

Tushín is having a lovely time down at the front of the line with his battery and doesn't show any sign that he will obey when told to retreat by a staff-officer.  Bolkónski reaches the battery and shakes Tushín's hand and says "Until we meet again". Tushín is described as having tears in his eyes as he watches Bolkónski ride away [1]

[1] Bolkónski and Tushín seem to have man-crushes on one another. 

Book 2 - Chapter 19

Characters Present (or discussed):

Captain Tushín 
A German colonel
A Russian general
Zherkóv
Nicholas Rostóv
General Bagratión


Location: 

Still in Znaime

Captain Tushín's plan to set the village on fire was successful, and the French are slightly delayed as they rush to put it out.

General Bagratión sends Zherkóv to tell the left flank to retreat, and Zherkóv finds a German colonel and a Russian general arguing.  Apparently the German won't command his men to fight as they are outnumbered - he refuses on the grounds that he doesn't want to do kill his men for the entertainment of the Russian.  The French get in around the back of the Germans, so they have to fight to get out anyway.

Rostóv's arm gets maimed horribly when he falls of his horse, which got maimed seconds before, and he runs away when he notices French soldiers coming to either capture or kill him.

Book 2 - Chapter 18

Characters Present:

Prince Andew Bolkónski
General Bagratíon

Location: 

Still in Znaime

The battle is in full swing and Bolkónski walks past several soldiers who are bleeding quite gruesomely.

Bagratíon continues to act as though everything is going according to plan and seems delusional but happy.  He joins the march on the French army.

Book 2 - Chapter 17

Characters Present: 

Prince Andrew Bolkónski
General Bagratión 
Captain Tushín

Location:

Still at Znaime

More canon balls are fired at the Russian army, and though not having received orders, Captain Tushín of the Russian battery starts firing canons back into the village that some of the French army are in, with the aim of setting it on fire.

Bolkónski, now going around with Bagratíon, notes that though Bagratíon does not appear to be giving orders, or to even have a plan, he acts as though everything that happens is going according to how he wanted or expected it to.  This has a calming effect on the soldiers that he interacts with. 

The movement of the French army around the Russian army tends to suggest that the Russians are doomed.

Book 2 - Chapter 16

Characters Present:

Prince Andrew Bolkónski
Captain Tushín 
An infantry officer with a manly voice

Location: 

Still in Znaime

Bolkónski continues his tour of the camp and climbs a hill where he can see the whole of the Russian Army and the beginnings of the French army.  He observes that the French line is much wider than the Russian and notes that the French could very easily outflank the Russians.

Bolkónski starts to develop a strategy to pass on to Bagratión but then overhears voices philosophising about death in a cabin that is on the hill.  He recognises one voice as belonging to the dashing Captain Tushín, who he met while he (Tushín) was being scolded for not wearing boots a couple of chapters ago, and the other to be very manly indeed. 

Their conversation is interrupted by a canon ball whizzing through the air and destroying part of the cabin.

Book 2 - Chapter 15

Characters Present:

Prince Andew Bolkónski
Fedor Ivanovich Dólokhov

Location:
  
Znaime 

Bolkónski, having managed to convince Kutüzov to ride ahead, arrives at  General Bagratión's encampment in Znaime.   The battle has not yet commenced, and nobody there really knows what is going on. 

Bolkónski asks to tour the camp and upon reaching the lines, and notes that the Russians and the French are so close that they can speak.  He rides along the line for a bit, and spots Dólokhov and a Frenchman taunting each other.

Book 2 - Chapter 14

Characters present (or discussed)

Kutúzov (Commander in Chief)

Prince Murat (French, took part in the trickery on the bridge in Vienna)

A spy

Bagratión (A Russian General)

Location: 

Vienna-Znaime Road at Hollabrünn

One hundred and fifty thousand French, according to the spy, are advancing toward Znaime, and if they get there before the Russian army, Kutúzov will be cut off from reinforcements coming through from Russia.

He sends word to Bagratión who has a vanguard of four thousand men relatively nearby, and they march all night to Znaime and reach it some hours before the French. He is to stall the French until Kutúsov can arrive.

Prince Murat mistakes Bagratión's vanguard for the whole Russian army, and proposes a truce for three days while the rest of his army arrives but Bagratíon is not highly ranked enough to agree or disagree, so sends a message back to Kutúzov.   Bonaparte sends a letter via an adjudicate to Murat telling him not to be stupid and to attack the Russians on the following day.

Book 2 - Chapter 13

Characters Present:

Prince Andrew Bolkónski

Prince Nesvítski

The wife of a doctor of the Seventh Chaussers

A woman-beater soldier

General Kutúzov

Location: 

Near Hetzelsdorf

Bolkónski leaves Brünn and seems to ride for some time until he comes across a disheveled and disorderly Russian army on the high road near Hetzelsdorf.  The road is clogged and he comes across a soldier on a cart whipping a woman trying to get past.  Bolkónski makes the soldier stop with some stern words and feels dismayed with the quality of the Russian army in general.

He comes across an empty looking house in which to rest and finds Nesvítski.  Kutüzov enters the house in a what can only be described as a tizwas and commands Bolkónski to accompany him, but to where, he does not say.

Book 2 - Chapter 12

Characters Present:

Emperor Francis
Prince Andrew Bolkónski
Bilíbin

Location: 

Palace, then Bilíbin's house

Bolkónski has his audience with the Emperor, and the Emperor's enthusiasm for the victory over Mortier seems to ingratiate Bolkónski to the rest of the court.

Bolkónski returns to Bilíbin's house to see a carriage hurriedly being packed with luggage.  Bilíbin races out and says that Thabor Bridge in Vienna was taken by the French before it could get blown up, and that the Russians were tricked by the French into to not doing so. 

Consequently, the French are now on the move to Brünn and the inhabitants of Brünn are now on the run to Olmütz.  Bilíbin invites Bolkónski to go with him to Olmütz, but Bolkönksi declines and starts packing to return to the army.

Book 2 - Chapter 11

Characters Present:

Prince Andrew Bolkónski

Bilíbin

Prince Hippolyte Kurágin

three other men, described as diplomats

Location: 

Bilíbin's house

Prince Andrew wakes at Bilíbin's house and puts on his dress uniform, for today, he is to meet with the Emperor Francis. 

He heads downstairs to Bilíbin's study and finds him in there in light-hearted conversation with Prince Hippolyte Kurágin and three other men who are diplomats.  Bolkónski learns that Kurágin is super popular with the ladies, and he gets invited out with the group to see the sights and attractive women of Brünn.

Bolkónski declines, explaining that he must meet with the Emperor that morning. Bilíbin advises him try and talk a lot, as the Emperor dislikes speaking.

Book 2 - Chapter 10

Characters Present:

Prince Andrew Bolkónski

Bilíbin - A diplomat and Prince Andrew's Russian acquaintance

Location:

Bilíbin's house in Brünn

Prince Andrew is staying with his acquaintance Bilíbin.  They are discussing the war, and Prince Andrew expresses his disappointment with the lack of enthusiasm regarding their victory over Mortier. 

Bilíbin explains that the failures of the campaigns by Archdukes Karl and Ferdinand; the abandonment and subsequent occupation of Vienna; the death of Schmidt;  and the failure of Kutusóv's army to even capture Mortier made their victory look pretty insignificant to the Austrians. He does, however, note that at least the myth of Bonaparte's invincibility has been broken. 

There is to be a meeting between the King of Prussia and the Emperor Alexander, and Bilíbin notes that if Prussia joins the allies, there will be war. 

Book 2 - Chapter 9

Characters Present: 

Prince Andrew Bolkónski

Minister for War

General Kutúzov (discussed but not  present)

General Schmidt (discussed but not present, because he is dead)

Location: 

Along the Danube/Brünn

The French Army, numbering one-hundred thousand and led by Napoleon Bonaparte is forcing Kutúsov's army of only thirty-five thousand to retreat along the Danube, and Kutúsov is now to join forces that are advancing from Russia.  They are no longer trying to save Vienna.

On the 28th October, Kutúsov crossed to left bank of the Danube and on the 30th, attacked Mortier's division, which caused it to break up.

Prince Andrew was in the battle with Austrian General Schmidt, who was killed in action. He is sent to the Austrian Court, no longer in Vienna but now in Brünn, to impart the news of the victory.  He thinks he will be taken to the emperor with the news, but is instead taken to the offensively indifferent Minister of War, who ignores him for a few minutes while he finishes some paperwork.

Book 2 Chapter 8

Characters Present: 

Colonel Karl Bogdánich Schubert - German-Russian, speaks Russian badly as written by Tolstoy
Zherkóv
Vaska Denísov
Cadet Minónov
Prince Nesvítski
Nicholas Rostóv

Location: 

Still on the bridge crossing the River Danube at Enns

Denisóv's squadron are the only remaining on the end of the bridge and can see the blue uniforms of the French coming over the hill on the opposite bank.  Schubert and his two squadrons are nearby, and Nesvístki rides up to Schubert and demands to know why he he hasn't followed orders and burnt the bridge down.  Schubert denies ever receiving such orders and sends Denisóvs squadron back to do it. 

Rostóv, being in Denísov's squadron, rides back on to the bridge and freezes with fear as the French artillery and infantry get closer and wounded soldiers start calling out for stretchers. Meanwhile, Zherkóv, Nesvítski and others are discussing whether the bridge will catch fire before the French get to it, and they are happy when it does.

Book 2 - Chapter 7

Characters Present:

Prince Nesvítski
Vaska Denísov

Location: 

Still on the bridge over the River Danube in Enns

The enemy is still attacking and the bridge that the army are on is clogged with chaos and soldiers. The soldiers let  a German family through and the men act seedily towards the young woman and offer to buy her off her husband.  The family eventually gets through and Nesvitski notices canon balls hurtling into the water under the bridge. Denísov makes it onto the bridge and yells at Nesvitski to get the soldiers to let him pass.

Denísov and Nesvítski make it to the end of the bridge and stop the infantry from going on, to ease the congestion.

Book 2 - Chapter 6

Characters Present: 

Sketch Map (Illustrating campaign of 1805) [1]

General Kutúzov
Nesvítski
Some officers

Location: 

Crossing the River Danube at Enns

It is raining horribly, and General Kutuzóv and his army are falling back to Vienna, and burning bridges down as they go.   

They seem to have paused in their march for a break and Nesvítski, who is described as having a moist-lipped handsome mouth, is handing out pies to some of the officers.  They joke about visiting the nearby nunnery for entertainment.  

Kutúzov notices an enemy battery not too far off, and orders an attack.  Large guns start firing and everyone seems excited.

 

[1] Tolstoy L, 1993, War and Peace, Wordsworth Editions Ltd, Hertfordshire, p. 111

Book 2 - Chapter 5

Characters Present: 

Nicholas Rostóv
Kirsten - Staff Captain
Vaska Denísov
Zherkóv

Location: 

Denísov's quarters.

Kirsten, described as having grizzly hair and an enormous moustache, is trying to get Rostóv to apologise to an old colonel called Bodánich.  Rostóv denies speaking nonsense and lies to him and refuses to apologise.  Kirsten says that Bodánich is a vengeful old man, and that Rostóv had better apologise before he is transferred away to somewhere unpleasant.  Rostóv says that Bodánich had better not cross his path, or he will kill him. 

Zherkóv enters the room to report Mack's return and defeat, and to pass on the orders that the army is to advance on the morrow.

Book 2 - Chapter 4

Characters Present:

Nicholas Rostóv
Bondarénko - Rostóv's Ukrainian landlord
Vaska Denísov, - Rostóv's housemate - Cavalry captain
Lavrúska - Denísov's orderly
Lieutenant Teleyánin - a lieutenant in the same squadron as Rostóv

Location:

Salzeneck, Germany

Rostóv arrives back at his cottage from a foraging journey early in the morning and firstly has a jovial chat with his landlord, Bondarénko; and secondly, though less jovial, with Lavrúska  who says that Denísov probably lost at cards the previous night, thus his absence.

Denísov returns having indeed lost at cards and is in a bad mood.  Teleyánin, who nobody likes, comes to ask Denísov about the orders for the day, and ends up showing Rostóv how to shoe the crappy horse that he had sold to Rostóv earlier.

The quartermaster comes to collect Denísov's money from cards, and Denísov discovers that his purse is missing. Rostóv tracks down Teleyánin and upon retrieving the stolen purse, Teleyánin gets tearful about his old parents, and Rostóv, though disgusted, tells him to take the money if he really needs it.