Part 9, Chapters 7-12 Summary

Balashov has dinner with Napoleon and his commanders. It is all very civil, but Napoleon will not budge. Tsar Alexander reads the messages about the visit, and the war begins. Again, Tolstoy touches on the theme that Alexander doesn't take the war seriously; he has to be forced into action. Prince Andrew goes to Petersburg to see Anatole and possibly to propose a duel, but Anatole is no longer there. In Petersburg, Andrew encounters Kutuzov and he receives a post on the staff of a commander in Turkey. Before leaving, he stops at Bald Hills to see his father, son, and sister. Old Bolkonsky is as bad as ever, but Andrew notes that Maria is bolder than she once was. He feels sorry for Maria that she has to stay, and is grateful that as a man he can...