The reading, editing and translation diary of Tolstoy's classic—the story of the epic relationship between the life of an editor and a great work of universal literature.

Foreword by Ida Vitale.

The four main characters who appear in this story have had a very long and extraordinary career: Mario Muchnik (1931-2022), Lydia Kúper (1914-2011), Lev Tolstoy (1828-1910) and Ida Vitale (1923). This book is a tribute to literature as a collective work and an invitation to rediscover a radical, fascinating and indescribable editor.

«The edition of War and Peace that we have published is the fruit of four and a half years of work, but also of a lifetime marked by what many say is the best novel ever written. I have decided to narrate the events for the benefit of future generations of young editors.» —Mario Muchnik

«War and Peace was perhaps the work I reread the most times. Without a doubt, I owed to Tolstoy the fascinating discovery of a story with different, adult names and customs—the same fascination, perhaps, that led Muchnik to republish it. —Ida Vitale, in the prologue.