Clara Bell made the first complete English translation of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Her translation was published in 1886, helping make Tolstoy’s major historical novel available to a broad English-language readership.
Bell translated the work from French rather than directly from Russian. This was common in nineteenth-century English publishing, because French editions were widely available and many translators did not work from Russian. Later translators generally sought to translate directly from Tolstoy’s original Russian text.
The history of the novel’s English translations can be confusing because several influential versions appeared later. Louise and Aylmer Maude produced a major direct translation in the early twentieth century, while Constance Garnett also became a prominent translator of Russian literature.
A first translation is not necessarily the version regarded as most accurate today. Bell’s importance lies in being credited with the first complete English version, whereas later translations benefited from different approaches to Russian vocabulary, syntax, and historical terminology.