War and Peace Volume 1 Book 2 Chapter 16

In which Prince Andrew surveys the Russian and French positions from an artillery battery, contemplating tactical manoeuvres and the possible unfolding of battle with a mind both practical and studious. Meanwhile, the sober voices of officers discuss the nature of fear and the unknown beyond death, only to be abruptly interrupted by the deadly arrival of a cannonball that brings the moment sharply back to the realities of war.