War and Peace

At more than 1,200 pages and almost exactly four pounds, Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace is the hefty tome against which all other hefty tomes are weighed and measured. This story of the French invasion of Russia in 1812 was first published in 1869 in Russian, no less. So why is this old literary classic suddenly sitting near the top of bestseller lists, surpassing swifter, lighter, more modern American novels?