I loved reading War and Peace. I loved, as Andrew D. Kaufman describes in his book, Give War and Peace a Chance: Tolstoyan Wisdom for Troubled Times, the novel's main theme of our “search to find meaning in a relentlessly unstable world.” Reading War and Peace helped me cope with Covid, national politics, and deaths in my family. What I didn’t love about War and Peace was how often I was distracted from appreciating the book’s wonderful plot, themes, and characters. I spent considerable time looking up information such as foreign words, anachronisms, and yes, looking up characters to find out who was who. I tried to find a more readable translation of the novel but there wasn’t one. So I decided to do something about it. My goal was to create a faithful version of Louise and Aylmer Maudes’ translation from 1922 but with small edits that make the text more readable. This edition eliminates many anachronisms, clarifies awkwardly translated passages, and simplifies character names. Now the reader can simply enjoy the text without puzzling over the author’s intention. It’s true that when names are simplified, something is lost. Tolstoy is playful in his use of nicknames and relationships to refer to characters. When he wrote War and Peace, readers of the original Russian understood his Russian references. Even English readers of his time understood the contemporary references. This edition attempts to re-create this kind of understanding. No longer do readers have to puzzle out the confusing elements of the text. Instead, they can simply enjoy the actions and passion of the characters. Plot and character are no longer hidden behind awkwardly translated and hard-to-follow wordplay.

I chose to edit Louise and Aylmer Maudes’ translation from 1922 because I think it is the easiest version to read. However, one thing that diminishes their version’s readability is the translation of foreign phrases. Although most of the French words are translated into English, those translations are down in the footnotes. I did not use footnotes. Instead, I placed the translated words directly in the text and italicized them. I also translated the German, Russian, Latin, and other foreign words and put them in italics. Maudes’ version is public domain, so I am making this version available as public domain, as well. My hope is that this version will inspire readers to make short stories, plays, audiobooks, and other adaptations.

The primary focus of this translation is the simplification of names and titles. My favorite example of name confusion in modern translations of War and Peace centers around the use of the word “Tzar.” Tolstoy used “Tzar” to refer to the sovereigns of several nations. Adding to the confusion, Tolstoy also used the words “Emperor” and “Tzar” interchangeably. In English, however, the word “Tzar” is usually used only for the leader of Russia. In this edition, the word “Tzar” is used in a clear and simple way—it’s reserved only for the Russian leader. For the Austrian sovereign, I use the term “the Emperor of Austria.” Likewise, Napoleon is referred to simply as Napoleon. He is not referred to as “Bonaparte,” “Buonaparte,” “Tzar,” or “Emperor.” Nor is he referred to by any other name unless the character is talking about what title or name they should use for him. In this edition, the Russian Tzar is the only “Tzar” in the book. The Tzar’s relations in this edition are “the Tzar’s mother,” “the Tzar’s son,” etc. His relation’s names, nicknames, and titles are not used.

Other names required many fewer changes. For instance, Tolstoy refers to Pierre and Natasha fairly consistently throughout the book. Only occasionally does Tolstoy use their titles or nicknames. Even with these two characters, though, I’ve changed every reference to them to only their first names. This prevents confusion and makes the text more readable.

I made a more dramatic change to the names of Natasha’s parents. In this edition, they are now referred to as “Count Rostov” and “Countess Rostov.” In Russian, the female version of “Rostov” is “Rostova.” I simply use the English translation of the name, “Rostov,” for both the Count and Countess. In Tolstoy’s original, he rarely uses these characters’ names at all. Instead, he refers to “Natasha’s father,” “the count,” or uses other vague terms. It’s quite easy for a new reader to mix up these important characters with other ones. For instance, the name “Count Rostov” refers to several different characters! This sort of wordplay might be easy to follow in the original Russian, but an English translation read a hundred years later is not as clear and simple. When the novel's names and plot points are puzzling to the reader, it can be impossible to find humor in the confusion. In this new edition, the plots involving the Rostovs are quite clear, and both of these characters are always referred to in a consistent matter.

Tolstoy is not as straightforward with the characters of Andrei and Nicholas. In addition to their first names, they are often referred to by their titles or their last names. More confusion occurs because both characters share their titles with their fathers. In this edition, I refer to Andrei and Nicholas solely by their first names.

I made a bigger change to the names of Prince Vasili, Prince Bolkonski, and other princes in this edition. In the 1922 English translation by the Maudes, readers can become confused by the title of Prince. In the English tradition, “Prince” refers to a person who is in line to become the king. In Russia, this is not the case; the title of Prince was more like a Baron or a Duke. Such a title indicates that while they were powerful, that person is not in line to become king. In many ways, “Baron” is a more accurate translation than “Prince.” Thus, this edition refers to the princes as barons.

Similarly, I refer to Princesses Lise, Marya, and others only by their first names. First of all, I do so because these characters are not in line to inherit the crown. Also, these characters aren’t as powerful as their prince and princess parents. Not using a title helps differentiate them from their parents.

With other characters, however, adding titles helps clarify their roles in the novel. For instance, I rename Bilíbin as “Adjutant Bilibin” and “Kozlóvski” as “Aide-de-camp Kozlovski.” These added titles help the reader comprehend the characters’ roles in the plot at a glance. Changing “Mademoiselle Bourienne” to “Lady-in-waiting Bourienne” makes her title much more descriptive. It's true that the character known as “Uncle” (with quotation marks) does have a descriptive name/title. Unfortunately, the quotation marks become distracting to the reader. (The distraction is especially acute when used with an apostrophe!) Tolstoy refers to “Uncle” almost a hundred times in the novel. I changed the name to the Russian word for “Uncle,” which is “Dyadya.” This change makes the character’s name much easier to read. It's true that referring to the character as Dyadya isn’t as immediately descriptive as “Uncle.” But this tradeoff seems reasonable when one considers the improvement in readability.

Similarly, I altered military titles (and simplified them, when necessary). This way, the book’s war scenes are much easier to read. Tolstoy refers to different generals by their noble titles of Baron, Prince, or Duke. This edition uses the title of General for all the Russian generals to simplify their roles in the plot. I differentiate French military leaders from Russian ones by using the title of “Général.”

The character of Kutuzov has a couple different changes in this edition. These are necessary, in part, because of his military promotion in the middle of the book. First of all, I use the short title “Marshal” rather than the long title “Commander-in-Chief.” In this edition, Kutuzov starts the book as simply “General Kutuzov.” When he is promoted to Marshal, then I refer to him as “Marshal Kutuzov.” Similarly, Barclay de Tolly is referred to as “Marshal Barclay” in the beginning of the book. When he is demoted, he becomes “General Barclay.”

Place names are often changed in this edition by adding a word of clarity. For instance, I changed “Schlappanitz” to “village of Schlappanitz.” Likewise, I changed “the Tverskáya” to “Tverskaya Street.” It is possible for modern readers to figure out place names by context. However, adding this clarification can be helpful.

The other name changes are more subtle. The above examples give a good idea of my intentions in altering the names of the characters.

I did make some additional changes, as well, throughout the book. When I felt the translation by the Maudes was overly literal, I made minor edits to make the text more readable. For instance, I inserted commas for clarity. Likewise, I removed many commas that were cumbersome and unnecessary. It's true that such corrections make the text less faithful to the original translation. However, I think it is more faithful to Tolstoy’s original story in that is much clearer. This clarity was lost when the work was translated into English in an overly literal way.

One example of these changes is in the first sentence of the novel:

The Maudes’ translation:

“Well, Prince, so Genoa and Lucca are now just family estates of the Buonapartes.”

This new translation:

“Well, Baron Vasili, so the Italian cities of Genoa and Lucca are now just Napoleon's family estates.”

I hope you will enjoy this edited version of the translation and find it clear and easy to understand. My goal is for the reader to thoroughly appreciate Tolstoy’s clever writing, intricate plotting, and magnificent storylines.