War & Peace Podnotes, A Study Guide

This project is approaching the final chapter of Book I, a critical juncture with Napoleon victorious and holding the greatest reputation man can bestow.  Even after Napoleon suffered a string of defeats years later, his reputation was colossal when Tolstoy wrote War &Peace. Many readers coming to this book do not realize Napoleon is something of a dark force utilized to portray how to view those who send others to die for a ruler's vain ambitions. In this regard, it is important to recall how Tolstoy was influenced the Bible book of Ecclesiastes, which comments on vainglorious ambitions as well as the meaningless of everything without an appreciation of the Transcendent. Tolstoy is reaching to you from another age, highlighting how you can recognize War’s profane nature compared to what is above.  Tolstoy recognizes how calls to war are a siren’s song as well as how easy it is to get young men to answer, usually via a small bounty or appeal to patriotism.Acknowledging the idiosyncratic pacifist Tolst