Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews March 29, 2023 March 22, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
The narrator again expresses his view that war is not scientific, repeating that the French defeat in Russia is rationally unexplainable. He then describes the devastation of the remaining French troops by Russian guerillas.
Dolokhov and Denisov are among the Cossack partisan fighters tracking the retreating French. Denisov receives a message delivered by Petya Rostov, who is now proudly serving in the army. Denisov and Petya come upon a French encampment and consider attacking it. Suddenly, they see a Russian peasant fleeing the French camp, whom Denisov recognizes as Tikhon, a feisty character who enjoys looting the French soldiers. Tikhon is sent off to capture a French informer, but kills the first Frenchman he finds on grounds that his clothes are not fancy enough. Denisov is disgusted by Tikhon’s cruelty. Petya, eager to please Denisov, acts kindly toward a French drummer boy the Russians have taken prisoner. Petya hopes to take part in the attack on the French camp planned for the next day, and is finally allowed to do so.
Dolokhov and Petya, disguised as French officers, enter the French camp for information about Russian prisoners of war. Back at the Russian guerilla camp, Petya is unable to sleep before the -battle, so he goes out to speak to a Cossack who sharpens Petya’s saber. Petya feels as though he is in a dream. When the battle begins, the overjoyed Petya rides with glee into the heart of the shooting. He is killed.
Entering the French camp, Dolokhov and Denisov liberate the Russian prisoners of war, including Pierre, who had been marching painfully with the French while his friend Platon Karataev grew more and more ill. One day, Platon had told a tale of a merchant who suffered for the sins of others and greeted death happily. The next day, the French had shot Platon for being ill and straggling behind the rest. When Dolokhov and Denisov release Pierre, he weeps with joy. Petya is buried.
The French army continues to disintegrate. The troops fight among themselves and plunder each other. Napoleon abandons his subordinates. Nevertheless, Russians readers of histories of the war are frustrated to note that the Russian forces were unable to destroy the remnants of the French army. The narrator explains that attacking the retreating French would have been senseless, like whipping an animal already running.
Mary and Natasha, still in exile from Moscow, grieve Andrew’s death in silence and pain. Natasha is much changed, and she refuses to return to Moscow even when the danger is past. She receives word that her brother Petya is dead, and tells her mother, both weeping. Mary attempts to console Natasha, who grows so pale and thin that her father insists that she accompany Mary to Moscow to see doctors.
Please wait while we process your payment