In choosing to set Tolstoy's monumental novel War and Peace as an opera, Prokofiev set himself the biggest challenge of his career. He worked on the opera for over a decade, and died before he could see it reach the stage. The opera underwent numerous revisions and metamorphoses as Prokofiev did his best to take onboard the critical feedback he received as he composed. Although Western scholars broadly agree that there are five versions of War and Peace, in truth we can never be sure that there is a final version of the work; perhaps, given Prokofiev's openness to innovation in the staging of his work, there should not be. This work's fluidity, which came at such huge personal expense, means that dramaturgs and opera companies today have greater freedom to produce a work that suits the forces they have available, as well as their stage capabilities and technologies. Indeed, most opera companies treat the various versions as an assortment from which to pick and choose – not always successfully from a dramaturgical perspective. But, as can be seen from Prokofiev's approach to his operas more generally, essentially he wanted these works to be staged and performed. His ambition to write an influential if not definitive opera were not dampened by political interventions.

Having so many iterations of one work also causes great confusion when it comes to defining stages of composition, relating these stages stylistically to the composer’s aesthetic, and separating the political from the musical. It is not my intention to go through the tortuous revision process or the countless letters exchanged between the composer and his extensive network – this has been done by several other scholars. Rather, this discussion will take a broader look at Prokofiev's dramaturgical changes, the styles underpinning the music, and his negotiation of so many aesthetic challenges. The political context that shaped certain decisions will be referenced only in so far as it aids our understanding of what the composer was trying to achieve as an artist in this awe-inducing opera.

Prokofiev completed the first version of War and Peace on 13 April 1942. It had eleven scenes and was designed to be staged in one evening. The second version was also a one-evening event; it was completed in 1943 and had eleven scenes and an epigraph.