Soaring War & Peace

A soaring War & Peace has entered the UK top 50 chart for the first time, according to industry sales watcher Nielsen Bookscan - currently sitting in 50th position after soaring sales.

The title - the very definition of an epic read - is sometimes touted as a badge of honour for those managing to navigate its lengthy plot. This is largely because it includes several hundred characters, and is rather lengthy (the current Wordsworth Classics edition is just over 1,000 pages...oof!). 

We definitely don't go in for tying acclaim to the completion of specific books - it's a damaging and largely unhealthy way to approach personal reading habits. Essentially - read what you're interested in! 

In any case, Tolstoy's War & Peace  is roundly regarded as a classic, and one which had previously failed to feature in the UK charts since they started in 1998. The surge in popularity is definitely down to BBC's current War & Peace dramatisation, and the situation speaks to the great job other arts can do for the boosting of of original mediums.

The transporting of books to TV or film doesn't always work out for the best, but it's refreshing to see a novel first published in 1869 re-capturing imaginations almost 150 years later!  And around a topic which might otherwise be deemed uninteresting by those now captivated. 

Undoubtedly it's thrilling that more people are picking up War & Peace. We wish them well, hope they get through it, and hope it feeds a passion for further reading of books, classics or other..