Lucy Day Werts answers “Which edition is the best? I would really...”

A Goodreads user asked this question about War and Peace:

Which edition is the best? I would really like one with an index or footnotes.

Lucy Day Werts People have different purposes in reading, and different esthetic taste, but here’s what I recommend based on what I’ve learned about the available Wa…morePeople have different purposes in reading, and different esthetic taste, but here’s what I recommend based on what I’ve learned about the available War and Peace translations.

My first choice would be the Maude/Mandelker translation. This edition from Oxford is now the most recent, and seems like a good balance between smooth, non-modernized English and text updated to correct errors. It contains notes and other reader aids, and is available as a hardcover, paperback, or ebook.

Fans of Pevear & Volokhonsky will choose theirs, as it claims to be the most authentic, albeit at the cost of smoothness. Their edition also has lots of notes and extras.

The Briggs translation also has notes but strikes me as much less academic/scholarly in its audience than either the Mandelker or the P&V edition; The Dunnigan translation is also marketed as accessible, and lacks notes.

For links and to find out more about the various translations of War and Peace, visit We Love Translations: World Literature in English, at:

https://welovetranslations.com/2021/0...(less)

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