Meanwhile, Pierre, who was made sole heir to his father’s vast fortune, marries a woman named Helene very quickly and without getting to know her very well. Leaving his devout sister, Mary to raise his son, Andrew begins to work to reform the Russian government. After fully healing, he arrives home to find that his wife, Lise, has given birth to a son and died in the birth.
Among them are Pierre Bezukhov, the bastard son of a wealthy count and Andrew Bolkonski, the clever, driven son of a former commander in the military. Andrew is soon wounded in battle and presumed dead. In the start of the novel we are introduced to many important characters very quickly at a party.
