The epilogue of War and Peace has two parts. The first part returns to the characters and shows their lives after the Napoleonic wars, while the second part shifts into Tolstoy’s extended discussion of history and historical causation.
The first epilogue begins in 1813 with Pierre Bezukhov’s marriage to Natasha Rostova. It follows the changing fortunes of the Rostov and Bolkonsky families, including Nikolai Rostov’s marriage to Maria Bolkonskaya and the family’s move to Bald Hills. The section ends in 1820, with hints about the future political development of the young Nikolai Bolkonsky.
The second epilogue is not a conventional continuation of the plot. Tolstoy challenges the idea that history is shaped chiefly by “great men” such as Napoleon or Alexander I. He argues that historical events emerge from countless decisions and actions by ordinary people, comparing the combined effect of these small forces to the mathematical idea of calculus.
A common mix-up is confusing the epilogue’s two parts with the novel’s four volumes, fifteen parts, or numerous books and chapters. Those are different levels of the work’s structure.