In Russia&#39;s struggle with Napoleon, Tolstoy saw a tragedy that involved all mankind. Greater than a historical chronicle, War and Peace is an affirmation of life itself, `a complete picture&#39;, as a contemporary reviewer put it, `of everything in which people find their happiness and greatness, their grief and humiliation&#39;.<br /><br />The novel chronicles the&nbsp;French invasion of Russia&nbsp;and the impact of the&nbsp;Napoleonic era&nbsp;on&nbsp;Tsarist&nbsp;society through the stories of five Russian&nbsp;aristocratic&nbsp;families. Portions of an earlier version, titled&nbsp;<i>The Year 1805</i>,were serialized in&nbsp;<i>The Russian Messenger</i>&nbsp;from 1865 to 1867 before the novel was published in its entirety in 1869.<br /><br />Tolstoy said&nbsp;<i>War and Peace</i>&nbsp;is &quot;not a novel, even less is it a poem, and still less a historical chronicle.&quot; Large sections, especially the later chapters, are philosophical discussions rather than narrative. Tolstoy also said that the best&nbsp;Russian literature&nbsp;does not conform to standards and hence hesitated to call&nbsp;<i>War and Peace</i>&nbsp;a novel. Instead, he regarded&nbsp;<i>Anna Karenina</i>&nbsp;as his first true novel.