Pithy Books

Books like War and Peace

If you liked War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, start here: 12 similar summaries, with why each one matches.

  1. The Name of the Rose

    Umberto Eco · 1980

    Because shares tags: historical fiction, classics, philosophy.

    Friar William and Adso investigate 1327 abbey deaths amid library labyrinth.

  2. The Karamazov Brothers

    Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1880

    Because shares tags: classics, philosophy, russia.

    Dmitri, Ivan, and Alyosha Karamazov face their father, murder, faith, and doubt in Dostoevsky's final novel.

  3. Fall of Giants

    Ken Follett · 2010 · Century Trilogy #1

    Because shares tags: historical fiction, war, russia.

    Five families from Wales to Russia live through World War I, the Russian Revolution, and the fight for women's votes.

  4. A Farewell to Arms

    Ernest Hemingway · 1929

    Because shares tags: classics, war, historical fiction.

    Frederic loves Catherine in Italy until desertion leads to Switzerland and stillbirth.

  5. All Quiet on the Western Front

    Erich Maria Remarque · 1929

    Because shares tags: classics, war, historical fiction.

    Paul Bäumer enlists at nineteen and faces the trenches of World War I in Remarque's 1929 classic, told from the German side of the wire.

  6. Crime and Punishment

    Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1866

    Because shares tags: classics, philosophy, russia.

    Raskolnikov kills a pawnbroker to prove he is beyond morals, then unravels under Porfiry and Sonya.

  7. Anna Karenina

    Leo Tolstoy · 1878

    Because also by Leo Tolstoy; shares tags: classics, russia.

    Anna leaves Karenin for Vronsky while Levin seeks faith and farming outside Moscow.

  8. Things Fall Apart

    Chinua Achebe · 1958

    Because shares tags: classics, historical fiction.

    Proud Igbo wrestler Okonkwo rises in 1890s Umuofia, then loses standing through hard exile, a son's conversion, and British missionaries…

  9. The Trial

    Franz Kafka · 1925

    Because shares tags: classics, philosophy.

    Josef K. is arrested one morning on an unknown charge and pulled into an endless court he can never leave.

  10. The Three Musketeers

    Alexandre Dumas · 1844 · The d'Artagnan Romances #1

    Because shares tags: classics, historical fiction.

    Young dArtagnan joins Athos, Porthos and Aramis to recover the queens diamonds and face Milady.

  11. The Prince

    Niccolo Machiavelli · 1532

    Because shares tags: classics, philosophy.

    Machiavelli advises Lorenzo on rule through fear and love, fortune, cruelty and mercy.

  12. The Master and Margarita

    Mikhail Bulgakov · 1967

    Because shares tags: classics, russia.

    Devil Woland visits 1930s Moscow while Master writes Pilate and Margarita bargains.

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