Henk Boer

I have had the privilege of reading War & Peace and the English language as well as in Dutch. I have interested in history and War Peace Oorlog en Vrede) gives one insight into the futility of mankind's ambition to dominate, to rule, to manipulate others. for 2000 years Europa's history has been filled with those ambitious to rule their neighbours, to steal their wealth and resources. We look at the Roman Empire followed by the Ottoman Empire, The Spanish who dominated part of Europa in the middle ages, not to forget Napoleon who courageously marched to Russia with 750.000 troops and returned with 30.000, Countless smaller war was fought to be followed by WW I and twenty years later by Adolf Hitler's ambition for his 'thousand years Reich' only to see it ended, within a period of a little over twenty years, the death of 55 million people, the displacement of millions of others, his suicide in 1945 to be remembered as one of the most despised people ever lived. Tolstoi War and Peace give one an insight into war, and is often glorified by those who ambition is to dominate, to control the lives of others. In War & Peace Tolstoi gives us an insight into the minds of the well to do, the rulers, the ambitious, who were forcefully recruited. In many instances glorified war, willingly sacrificing the lives of others. Tolstoi gives us an account of how the war with Napoleon was fought and thousands of lives lost. In summing Tolstoi also asked the "question "Was anything achieved?" If the achievement of war can be counted in the loss of life, the waste of resources and the misery suffered by untold millions, one could refer to it as a success.