Melbourne man Ander Louis has translated hundreds of pages of the 19th century classic line by line to include Ford Falcons, wankers and drongos “Bloody hell, Prince Vasíli, Genoa and Luca are pretty much just Napoleon’s holiday homes now,” reads the opening line of Leo Tolstoy’s seminal epic, War and Peace. It goes on to depict a 19th century St Petersburg populated by “posh wankers”, “complete drongos”, “gorgeous sheilas” and “massive pissheads”. They “talk shit”, give “zero fucks” and drink “cuppas”, and before long, soldiers start “fanging about”. Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Continue reading...

Carol of the Bells was written in Pokrovsk, a key target for advancing Russian troops in Ukraine.