📓 Adapted from Leo Tolstoy's classic novel of Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812, War and Peace tells the story of Count Pierre Bezhoukov, as he's buffeted by the fortunes of war, love, and a cruel fate. J. Wladimir Bienstock (1868-1933) was an emigre who made a career out of translating and adapting Russian literary classics into their French equivalents.