There are a number of books that are “suggested reading” and one of those would I suggest be Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”. However if one listens to this synopsis of “War and Peace in less than 5 minutes” that was crafted by John Crace, of the Guardian newspaper London, you can then make an educated guess as to whether it should be on your list.

It is read by the well-known actor Simon Callow and first broadcast on the BBC Radio 4 programme “Today” on 1st of January 2015 synopsis of “War and Peace in less than 5 minutes”

If you decide, after having heard this excellent synopsis that you would like to read it on your tablet or computer screen. Click here to read “War & Peace” or you could go along to your public library and borrow a copy.

Whilst I enjoy some of the “classics” I think I will stay with Sir Winston Churchill’s “History of an English Speaking People” where he presents my nation’s history with a light and very readable touch. If only I had been taught history by the likes of him I might well have stayed on at school.