James Brady regularly writes for Parade magazine, profiling celebrities. He has authored a dozen books, including The Coldest War, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (Penguin, $14). Maybe the greatest novel ever. Pierre, Natasha, Prince Andre, even Bonaparte, “the Monster.” Who but a genius like Count Leo Tolstoy could have created a hero like fat, bespectacled, awkward, illegitimate—and lovable—Pierre Bezukhov?
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