War and Peace
(Leo Tolstoy)

Genius vs. Chaos

Tolstoy talks again and again about the real cause of victory or defeat. Some people are called geniuses, like Napoleon, who history calls a great military leader. But Tolstoy shows him to be a glory hungry man whose instructions often didn't make any sense. Napoleon stayed so far away during battle that his orders would be obsolete before even reaching the right people.

Instead, Tolstoy says, victory is often won through a chance culmination of many small events, most of which no one person can control. Kutuzov, a man criticized by historians, was, in Tolstoy's eyes, a great leader because he understood the chaotic nature of war. He took a more relaxed view of battle command.

Destiny vs. Free Will

Take the above theme and expand it out to more than just warfare, and you have a debate on destiny verses free will. What makes men and nations do what they do? What force moves peoples in one way or another? This is a big question Tolstoy highlights. Many time his characters feel overpowered by some great power or force, as if their path is out of their control.

Truth vs. History

Tolstoy constantly criticizes historians in this book, posing the question: how do we know what really happened in the past? Really, how can we be sure that what historians say is true at all? Historians remember the people and events that they want to highlight, ignoring all the other events and causes.

War vs. Humanity

The brutality of war in contrasted with moments of human connection. We see captures treating their prisoners with kindness. We see Russian soldiers feeding and caring for starving French soldiers. We listen in as French and Russian soldiers tell jokes to each other from their trenches.