Which Russian magazine first serialized War and Peace starting in 1865?

War and Peace was first serialized in The Russian Messenger, beginning in 1865.

The periodical’s Russian name was Russkiy Vestnik, usually translated as The Russian Messenger. It published the opening part of Tolstoy’s developing manuscript under the title 1805, followed by additional sections in 1866 and 1867.

Tolstoy began writing the novel in 1863, but the version serialized in the magazine was not yet the final book. He substantially revised and expanded the work before its complete publication in book form in 1869. That publishing history explains why some references describe the novel as serialized from 1865 to 1867, rather than simply published in 1865.

The other options were major Russian literary periodicals, but they were not the serial publisher of War and Peace. The Russian Messenger also published important works by other nineteenth-century Russian authors, making it a significant platform in the country’s literary culture.