Editing War and Peace (section)

===Book Three===
[[File:Battle of Borodino 1812.png|thumb|The [[Battle of Borodino]], fought on September 7, 1812, and involving more than a quarter of a million troops and seventy thousand casualties was a turning point in Napoleon's failed campaign to defeat Russia. It is vividly depicted through the plot and characters of ''War and Peace''.<br/>Painting by [[Louis-François Lejeune]], 1822.]]

With the help of her family, and the stirrings of religious faith, Natasha manages to persevere in Moscow through this dark period. Meanwhile, the whole of Russia is affected by the coming confrontation between Napoleon's army and the Russian army. Pierre convinces himself through [[gematria]] that Napoleon is the [[Antichrist]] of the ''[[Book of Revelation]]'' and that Pierre himself has an [[eschatology|eschatological]] role. Old Prince Bolkonsky dies of a stroke knowing that French marauders are coming for his estate. No organized help from any Russian army seems available to the Bolkonskys, but Nikolai Rostov turns up at their estate in time to help put down an incipient peasant revolt. He finds himself attracted to the distraught Princess Maria.

Back in Moscow, the patriotic Petya joins a crowd in audience of [[Alexander I of Russia|Tzar Alexander]] and manages to snatch a biscuit thrown from the balcony window of the [[Dormition Cathedral, Moscow|Cathedral of the Assumption]] by the Tzar. He is nearly crushed by the throngs in his effort. Under the influence of the same patriotism, his father finally allows him to enlist.

Napoleon himself is the main character in this section, and the novel presents him in vivid detail, both personally and as both a thinker and would-be strategist. Also described are the well-organized force of over four hundred thousand troops of the French {{lang|fr|[[Grande Armée]]}} (only one hundred and forty thousand of them actually French-speaking) that marches through the Russian countryside in the late summer and reaches the outskirts of the city of [[Smolensk]]. Pierre decides to leave Moscow and go to watch the [[Battle of Borodino]] from a vantage point next to a Russian artillery crew. After watching for a time, he begins to join in carrying ammunition. In the midst of the turmoil, he experiences first-hand the death and destruction of war; Eugène's artillery continues to pound Russian support columns, while Marshals Ney and Davout set up a crossfire with artillery positioned on the Semyonovskaya heights. The battle becomes a hideous slaughter for both armies and ends in a standoff. The Russians, however, have won a moral victory by standing up to Napoleon's reputedly invincible army. The Russian army withdraws the next day, allowing Napoleon to march on to Moscow. Among the casualties are Anatole Kuragin and Prince Andrei. Anatole loses a leg, and Andrei suffers a grenade wound in the abdomen. Both are reported dead, but their families are in such disarray that no one can be notified.

The Rostovs have waited until the last minute to abandon Moscow, even after it became clear that Kutuzov had retreated past Moscow. The Muscovites are being given contradictory instructions on how to either flee or fight. [[Fyodor Rostopchin|Count Fyodor Rostopchin]], the commander in chief of Moscow, is publishing posters, rousing the citizens to put their faith in religious [[icon]]s, while at the same time urging them to fight with pitchforks if necessary. Before fleeing himself, he gives orders to burn the city. However, Tolstoy states that the burning of an abandoned city mostly built of wood was inevitable, and while the French blame the Russians, these blame the French. The Rostovs have a difficult time deciding what to take with them, but in the end, Natasha convinces them to load their carts with the wounded and dying from the Battle of Borodino. Unknown to Natasha, Prince Andrei is among the wounded.

When Napoleon's army finally occupies an abandoned and [[Fire of Moscow (1812)|burning Moscow]], Pierre takes off on a naïve mission to assassinate Napoleon. He becomes anonymous in all the chaos, shedding his responsibilities by wearing peasant clothes and shunning his duties and lifestyle. The only people he sees are Natasha and some of her family, as they depart Moscow. Natasha recognizes and smiles at him, and he in turn realizes the full scope of his love for her.

Pierre saves the life of a French officer who, seeking shelter, enters the home of a dead friend of Pierre's, in which Pierre has been living since departing his own home. The two have a long, amicable conversation. The next day Pierre goes into the street to resume his assassination plan. He rescues a young girl from a burning house and then comes across two French soldiers robbing an Armenian family. When one of the soldiers tries to rip the necklace off the young Armenian woman's neck, Pierre intervenes by attacking the soldiers, and is taken prisoner by the French army.