Volume 3: Book 11 - Chapter 8

Characters Present:

Pierre Bezukhov

Location:

Borodíno

It is the end of the Battle of Borodíno, and Pierre feels that he has seen all he needed to, and is exhausted by the battle.  He walks away, and meets three soldiers on the road, who ask his name, as a condition of sharing their food with him.

Pierre wishes to conceal his nobility, and tells them that his name is Peter Kirílych, and that he is a militia officer, and that he has lost his men.

They begin to accompany him to Mozháysk, and passing by the inn that he was staying in, Pierre is recognised by some of his men, which is slightly awkward, as they call him "Your Excellency". He considers giving a coin to the soldiers, but decides against it, then goes for a lay-down in his carriage.  

A Christmas Treat

Here is a great reading of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, as read by a giant squid.

Volume 3: Book 11 - Chapter 7

Characters Present:

Countess Hélène Berzúkhova
Marya Dmítrievna Akhrosimova
Prince Vasilí
Bilíbin
Princess Kurágina (Hélène's mother) 

Location:

Petersburg

Hélène wants to distract society gossip from the fact that she already has a husband, so puts emphasis on the problem of having to choose between two suitors.

Marya tells her at a social function that the same (having two affairs, plus a husband) is already done in brothels, but Marya does not carry much social influence in Petersburg, so nobody pays much attention.

Prince Vasilí says that she should make up her own mind, and Bilíbin, Hélèn's friend, suggests that she marry the old count first, so that when he dies, she will get his money, and then she can marry the young Spanish prince.

Hélèn's mother worries that she won't be able to get a divorce, because of the bible.

Hèléne writes a letter to Pierre at his home, even though he is still at Borodíno, asking for a divorce. 

Volume 3: Book 11 - Chapter 6

Characters Present:

Countess Hélène Berzúkhova

Location:

Petersburg


Hélène has been having an affair with two men, a young Spanish prince, and an older French gentleman.

She is put in an awkward position when she discovers that they are both in Petersburg, but rather than try to conceal that they both exist to one another, she admits it, and convinces the younger one to marry her.  The prince notes that she is still technically married to Pierre, and she says that he was never a husband to her.

While he is off getting advice from the a church, she goes to her country house, and sees her other lover, Monsieur de Jobert who convinces her to convert to Catholicism, which goes nicely with her plans. 

An abbot is brought to Hélène, and after she confesses, she starts to get around wearing virginal white, though it still sounds like she is showing her bosom off a bit. 

Volume 3: Book 11 - Chapter 5

Characters Present:

Count Rostopchín

Location:

Moscow


People are beginning to leave Moscow, as to not be ruled by the French.  The rich are leaving with their belongings, and the poor are staying behind to burn things down, to make sure the French don't get any use out of it.

Count Rostopchín keeps calling the people that are leaving Moscow cowards in his broadsheet publication.

Volume 3: Book 11 - Chapter 4

Characters Present:

Bennigsen

Kutúzov

Ermólov

Kaysárov
Andrew Savostyánov
Malásha (Savostyánov's 6 year old grand daughter)
Toll
Dokhtúrov

Location:

A Council of War in Andrew Savostyánov's hut.


Malásha watches the council with shy delight, and is happy when she sees Kutúzhov, who she in her mind, calls Granddad, even though her actual grandfather is Andrew.

They debate on whether to retreat from Moscow.  Kutúzov eventually decides to issue the command to retreat to beyond Moscow.

Volume 3: Book 11 - Chapter 3

Characters Present:

Bennigsen

Kutúzov

Ermólov

Count Rostopchín

Location:

Poklómy Hill


Ermólov returns from inspecting the lines, and tells Kutúzov that the army will need to retreat to beyond Moscow. 

Kutúzov goes to Poklómy Hill, where he gets out of his carriage and sits on a bench. He is instantly surrounded by officers, and they have a serious discussion about whether or not to enact the retreat.

Kutúzov cannot bring himself to give the order, and decides that he must only trust his own judgement. 

Volume 3: Book 11 - Chapter 2

Characters Present:

Russian Army
French Army


Location:

Russia

The French forced the Russian army back 80 miles, past Moscow.  

Then, the French sat in Moscow, not doing anything in particular for five weeks.  After five weeks, without warning,  they went away, to beyond Vilna.

Volume 3: Book 11 - Chapter 1

Characters Present:


Location:

Tolstoy discusses the interconnectedness of all things.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 39

Characters Present:

French Army
Russian Army

Location:

Borodíno

Troops are laying dead or wounded as the battle goes on.  It begins to rain, washing away blood and dirt, and each of the men start to question for whom they are killing.

They battle on though - the Russian army continue to block the road to Moscow, and the French half-heartedly continue to attack.  If their morale hadn't been so low, they probably could have won the battle, as the Russians had lost half of their army, and the French, only quarter. 

END OF BOOK 10

&

END OF VOLUME 2

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 38

Characters Present:

Napoleon Bonaparte

Location:

Shevárdino Redoubt


Napoleon feels terrible because of his cold, but also, because of a flicker of remaining humanity, which tells him that he is to blame for all of the death on the battlefield.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 37

Characters Present:

Prince Andrew Bolkónski

Location:

In a medical tent in Borodíno


Andrew finds himself in a make-shift theatre with three operating tables. There are two other men being operated on, and Andrew thinks he recognises the one having his leg amputated.

A doctor comes and orders Andrew to be undressed. Andrew passes out from the pain in his abdomin but awakes with his leg bandaged.  He looks closely at the man that he recognised, who is sobbing and frightened, and begging to be allowed to look at his leg. 

Andrew realises it is Anatole Kurágin, who he had despised for so long, but feels sudden empathy, love and forgiveness in the aftermath of his near-death experience.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 36

Characters Present:

Prince Andrew Bolkónski

Location:

Between the Knoll Battery and Semënovsk


For a time, Andrew's regiment is kept in reserve, behind Semënovsk, and then moved up to be in between the Knoll Battery and Semënovsk.

After several hours of pacing with nervous energy, he asks his adjutant to get the men to fall back into a close formation, and before anything can be done, they come under fire. The adjutant tells Andrew to lie down, but he doesn't, and gets wounded in the stomach.

As Andrew is lying on the grass, he suddenly feels a rush of passion for the meadow, the grass, the times he had fallen in love, and life in general.  He wonders about this when he is waiting to be seen by a doctor at the hospital tent, and he decides that there is something about life that he doesn't understand.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 35

Characters Present:

His Serene Highness Kutúzov

Wolzogen

Raévski

Location:

Górki


Kutúzov is sitting quietly, giving permission to give orders, and hearing reports, in which he learns that General Bagratión has been wounded, which saddens him.

He is under the impression that their side is winning, but he is approached by the Wolzogen, who has been sent by Barclay de Tolley, to smugly declare that they are losing, and that they should retreat. Kutúzov reacts angrily, and is then approached by Raévski, who has spent all day at the Knoll Battery, and says that the French are no longer attacking.

Kutúzov asks Raévski if he thinks that they should retreat, like some others do, and then he sends out an order to ready the army to attack on the morrow.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 34

Characters Present:

Napoleon
the French army

Location:

Borodíno

Napoleon, who is sitting off to the side of the battle drinking punch, is approached by a young, handsome and curly-haired adjutant who asks for reinforcements.

Napoleon refuses them at first, but then changes his mind. 

The generals are still struggling to keep the men together, and they are still being slaughtered.

Napoleon goes to inspect the battlefield, and sees piles of bloodied French troops and horses in lying about everywhere, and becomes dejected at the loss, now, after winning all the other battles.

He is asked what he will do, and he declares that he will not have his Guard killed so far from home, and walks away.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 33

Characters Present:

Napoleon
the French army

Location:

Borodíno


The French army is in chaos - orders are carried out before they are supposed to be, or not at all.

When the officers finally manage to reorganise the men, they are herded back into the firing zone, and fear of getting killed sends them into chaos again. 

Napoleon and many of the higher ranking officers do not actually go near any of the danger zones.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 32

Characters Present:

Pierre Bezukhov

Location:

The Raévski Redoubt AKA the Knoll Battery

Pierre, who is terrified, manages to return to the battery.  He notices that there are no shots being fired from the battery, but he does not notice that the colonel has been killed.

He hears someone yell out "brother" (in French it later turns out) and somehow, he ends up catching a French officer, but there is some confusion about who is whose prisoner.  A canon-ball flies overhead, and they both duck, and Pierre releases his prisoner.  The French begin to flee, and the Russians start to celebrate and take prisoners.

Looking at the horror around him, Pierre thinks that the armies must surely quit after this, but the battle rages on.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 31

Characters Present:

Pierre Bezukhov
an adjutant

Location:

Borodíno and the Raévski Redoubt AKA the Knoll Battery


Pierre stumbles down the hill on his horse, and is met by an adjutant who takes him to the Knoll Battery, saying that it will be safer, and that he will have a better view.

Pierre's horse gets shot, and Pierre only notices as it is walking poorly.

Pierre arrives at the Knoll Battery, and being all dressed in white causes the troops to regard him with hostility at first, but then, they adopt him and call him "their gentleman". 

They run out of ammunition at the same time that canon balls start being launched at them. Pierre runs off to get some more, but the ammunition carts are hit just as he reaches them, and he is thrown backwards.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 30

Characters Present:

Pierre Bezukhov
Boris Drubetskóy
Kutuzov

Location:

Gorki and Borodíno 


Pierre oversleeps and misses the beginning of the battle.  He is eventually awakened by Boris who says that all the men and Kutúzov rode out ages ago.

Pierre gets ready quickly, and goes to have a look at the battle. The rolling green splendor of yesterday is now a beautiful scene of thousands of men; smoke from gun fire; and a mishmash of colours. 

He hears Kutúzov give an order to meet down near a crossing, and Pierre decides to go down there too.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 29

Characters Present:

Napoleon Bonaparte 

Location:

Borodíno - the night before the Battle of Borodíno


Napoleon comes back from checking the lines, and says that the chess pieces are in place, and the game is about to begin.

He then calls fortune a courtesan, and complains that he cannot taste nor smell anything.

Napoleon rides up to the the Shevárdino Redoubt at 5.30am and waits for the battle to begin.

NB: please see revision of Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 28

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 28

Characters Present:

Napoleon Bonaparte 

Location:

Borodíno


Many historians say that the Battle of Borodíno was lost because Napoleon had a cold, possibly because his valet had forgotten to bring him his waterproof boots a few days earlier.

Tolstoy argues that 80,000 men, by their own volition, in combination with the events leading to this moment, had gone into battle and gotten killed. 

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 27

Characters Present:

Napoleon Bonaparte 

Location:

Valúevo, Borodíno, the Shevárdino Redoubt

Tolstoy discusses popular French histories which say that Napoleon rode around the battle all day, giving out orders that seemed genius and mad.

Tolstoy counters at the end of the chapter that this would have been impossible, as Napoleon was far, far away from the actual battle.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 26

Characters Present:

Napoleon Bonaparte 
M. de Beausset

Location:
Valúevo

Napoleon being made ready by his valet.  The description makes it sound a lot like a horse is being groomed. 

De Beausset arrives from Paris and gives Napoleon a gift from Mrs Bonaparte - a portrait of their son.  Napoleon orders the portrait to be taken away, as his son is too young to see battle.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 25

Characters Present:

Pierre Bezukhov
Prince Andrew Bolkonski
Timokhin

Location:

Knyazkóvo

Pierre, Andrew and Timokhin discuss the army under Kutúzov's command.  

Andrew realises that he is very upset at the thought of Moscow being taken by the French.

He sends Pierre away to have some rest before the battle, and then starts to think about how much he had loved Natasha, and how Anatole Kurágin saw nothing of her beautiful soul, only a fresh, young pretty thing to be taken.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 24

Characters Present:

Pierre Bezukhov
Prince Andrew Bolkónski

Location:

Knyazkóvo

Prince Andrew is having gloomy thoughts on what is the eve of the battle. He suspects it will be worse than the battle of Austerlitz, and wonders if he will die. 

Pierre is led to Andrew's tent, and Andrew is reminded of the happenings in Moscow with Natasha and greats Pierre with hostility. 

Pierre detects the hostility and everything gets a bit awkward.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 23

Characters Present:

Pierre Bezukhov
Bennigsen

Location:

Górki; the Raévski Redoubt, also called the Knoll Battery; Semënovsk; and looking over the Shevárdino Redoubt

Pierre goes on a tour of the lines with Bennigsen, who gives commands to generals as they go along.

They ride along to the left of the line, and come upon a hill that is unmanned. The generals argue that it is foolish to leave it unmanned, since having the higher ground is beneficial in battle. Bennigsen agrees with this, and moves troops about without telling the Commander-in-Chief. 

This is a mistake, as the troops were supposed to be concealed to create a sudden ambush.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 22

Characters Present:

Pierre Bezukhov
Kutúzov
Boris Drubetskóy

Location:

Borodinó

Pierre meets Boris, and Boris promises to show him the line, and though the right flank is very strong, Boris says that the left flank is stronger, but then makes a doubtful sounding remark about Kutúzov knowing what he was doing.

Pierre then goes to speak to Kutúzov about joining the battle, and Boris places himself conveniently near (to be overheard by Kutúzov), and says to Pierre that the militia have put on clean white shirts to be killed in on the morrow.

Kutúzov loses concentration, like old people do, on the conversation, and asks his aide-de-camp to recite a verse, to which Kutúzov nods his head in rhythm to. 

Kutúzov then rides off with Pierre to show him the lines.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 21

Characters Present:

Pierre Bezukhov
Kutúzov

Location:

Borodinó

Pierre arrives at Borodinó, but the battlefield is not what he expected, with the troops on both sides just lurking about in their camps. 

The camps are also not set on either side of a line, but are intermingled, and Pierre asks a nearby officer to explain what their position is. 

A procession comes with some holy men bringing a religious icon, Mary, from Smolénsk.  

Pierre sees Kutúzov bow and kiss the icon, and then have tremendous difficulty rising to his feet because of his great weight.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 20

Characters Present:

Pierre Bezukhov

Location:

Leaving Mozháysk

Pierre leaves Mozaháysk to join the army, and passes lots of wounded soldiers from the battle the day before.

He meets a doctor, who says that 20,000 men are doomed to die or be wounded. The doctor directs Pierre to Tatárinova to find His Serene Highness Kutúzov. 

Pierre travels in his carriage to Tatárinova, but Kutúzov is not there, and he goes on to Górki.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 19

Characters Present:

Location:

Russia 

This chapter describes the wrong moves that Russia took leading up to the battle of Borodíno, which lead to an indecisive result.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 18

Characters Present:

Pierre Bezukhov

Location:

Moscow 


Moscow is slowly being deserted. Pierre receives the mornings newspapers, which contradict the gossip that Count Rostopchín had been forbidding people to leave Moscow. 

Pierre cannot decide whether to stay and wait in Moscow, or to join the army. 

He goes into town, and sees some French cooks being flogged, and decides to join the army in Mozháysk.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 17

Characters Present:

Julie Drubetskaya
Pierre Bezukhov

Location:

Moscow at a social gathering, hosted by Julie Drubetskaya 

The people at the gathering gossip about the French, who are getting closer to Moscow, and decide that they, the people in polite society, should all stop speaking French now.

The Rostov family come up in conversation, and Julie tells Pierre that she knows that there is a romance between him and Natasha. Pierre denies it.

They then discuss Nicholas Rostov's rescue of Princess Mary Bolkónskaya, and the budding romance between them.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 16

Characters Present:

Prince Andrew Bolkónski
Commander-in-Chief/Prince Kutúzhov

Location:

Headquarters 

Prince Andrew and Kutúzhov have a meeting, where Kutúzhov says that he is very fond of Prince Andrew, and that he must consider him as a second father.

Kutúzhov then laments the actions taken in previous wars, that have led to the current state of Russia, and it's war with France.   He becomes quite emotional, and says that he will make the French eat their horses.

Prince Andrew leaves the meeting, feeling like the right choice was made to make Kutúzhov Commander-in-Chief.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 15

Characters Present:

Prince Andrew Bolkónski
Vaska Denísov
Commander in Chief/Prince Kutúzhov

Location:

Headquarters 


Prince Andrew is summoned to headquarters by General Kutúzhov, who is absent when Prince Andrew arrives.

Prince Andrew speaks with Denísov for a while, each reminding the other of Natasha, as they had both been betrothed to her. 

General Kutúzhov arrives, and is described as having grown "corpulent, flaccid and fat", and as making the porch creak as he dismounts from his horse.  

Kutúzhov gets a bit upset about news of Prince Nicholas' death.

Denísov suggests a clever way to cut French communication lines, which Kutúzhov discards, as he dislikes clever people for no obvious reason other than that he is old.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 14

Characters Present:

Princess Mary Bolkonskaya
Nicholas Rostóv
Dron


Location:

Boguchárovo 

Nicholas calls for Dron, the leader of the peasant's to be brought to him, and Dron is subsequently locked in a cupboard while Nicholas rallies the peasants to load Princess Mary's carts.

He has a conversation with Princess Mary before she departs, and they, unbeknownst to one another, fall in love. Dron is released from the cupboard.

Nicholas feels agitated by the taunts by his comrades, but only because he doesn't know what to do about Sonya, his cousin, to whom he is betrothed.  

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 13

Characters Present:

Princess Mary Bolkonskaya
Nicholas Rostóv
Ilyín
Alpátych

Location:

Boguchárovo 

Nicholas and Ilyín ride into Boguchárovo, which has been between opposing armies for a few days.

Alpátych approaches them, and asks them for help: the peasants will not allow Princess Mary to leave, threatening to unharness her horses if she tries.  They have however, stated that they will serve her, as before, if she stays.

Nicholas goes to speak with Princess Mary, and he seems quite taken with her fragility.  She explains to him what has happened, and he assures her that she will have a safe passage away from the village.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 12

Characters Present:

Princess Mary Bolkonskaya

Location:

Boguchárovo 


Princess Mary spends some time brooding alone in her bedroom. 

She thinks of her father, wondering what he meant when he said "dear-est" just before he died.

Princess Mary eventually realises that he meant "Dunyásha" and starts screaming it loudly as she runs to the servant's quarters, and towards her old nursemaid.