Moscow quickly came back to life as successive waves of Russian plunderers and other Russians returned and began repairing and rebuilding and engaging in trade. By the following year, the population of Moscow was bigger then ever.
Pierre happens to meet Natásha at Mary’s house. Pierre does not recognize Natásha at first. She is much changed, the room is dim, and Pierre was not expecting to see her there. He becomes aware of how very much he loves her.
With two sympathetic listeners in Pierre and Princess Mary, Natásha for the first time is able to tell the painful story of her last weeks with Prince Andrew.
In the dining room, Mary, Natásha and Pierre discuss Pierre’s wartime experiences.
Pierre decides he wants Natásha for his wife. He can’t propose to her right away, (apparently because she is still in mourning), but there are encouraging signs she’ll say yes. Pierre is on top of the world as he leaves for a planned visit to Petersburg.
During this period, Pierre was almost insanely happy. The whole meaning of life now for him centered entirely on his love for Natasha and the hope of being loved by her.
When she realizes Pierre wants to marry her, life and love seem to come back into Natasha’s life. Natasha was happy again. She lost her fear of the future. Princess Mary is happy for her friend too, although she can’t help but notice how quickly Natasha seems to have forgotten her brother.
In this chapter, Tolstoy talks about why he thinks many people unfairly criticize Alexander’s actions during the historical period known as the reaction. Tolstoy’s basic argument here is that the critics shouldn’t assume they could have made any better choices.
Historians often err by treating chance or genius as causal forces in nature. Historical events, have specific real-world causes, but frequently the historian can’t possibly know them all. Still, it’s wrong to these tiny real-world causes as merely chance or genius.
It’s said, the times make the man. In this chapter, Tolstoy describes how conditions existing at that time made a successful military invasion of Russia led by Napoleon possible, and how when conditions changed it all fell apart. Through it all, Napoleon was merely a pawn of history.