Just as all novelists blend fact into the fiction mix, Tolstoy has peppered War and Peace with some real historical figures – Mikhail Speransky being just one of them. Speransky, Prince Andrei’s one-time mentor, really did exist and was considered quite the liberal reformer. For your enrichment, I’ve attached an article about him from Europe 1789-1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of Industry and Empire.
The Real Speransky
Filed under Interesting Facts, Supplemental Resources
