Which Russian author wrote the epic novel War and Peace?

The story behind the answer

Leo Tolstoy wrote War and Peace, published serially from 1865 to 1869. This monumental epic follows families like the Rostovs and Bolkonskys through Napoleon’s 1812 invasion of Russia, blending sweeping battle scenes with intimate character studies and philosophical reflections on history and free will—hallmarks of Tolstoy’s realist style.

To remember: Tolstoy = “tall stories” (vast, sprawling narratives). By contrast, Fyodor Dostoyevsky wrote psychological novels like Crime and Punishment, Vladimir Nabokov penned Lolita, and Alexander Pushkin is famed for poetry and Eugene Onegin. War and Peace’s scale and moral inquiry cement Tolstoy’s place as a giant of world literature.