Radio Documentaries

The War and Peace Broadcast: 35th Anniversary

At 7:15 p.m. on December 2, 1970, as the Vietnam war raged, WBAI in New York kicked off a broadcast unique in radio history: Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace read in its entirety by a star-studded cast. The special continued for the next four and one half days, stopping only for music breaks and nightly reports on the war.

For our 2005 Archives fund drive, we produced four hours of programming to celebrate the 35th-anniversary of this historic broadcast. There were excerpts from the 1970 production, interviews with the original producers, new readings performed specifically for this broadcast, and a lot more.

War & Peace Scrapbook

• Read and hear letters from WBAI listeners in 1970.
• Read comments from producers of original War and Peace broadcast.
• Dustin Hoffman is among the voices in the 1970 production. See complete 1970 cast list.
• Ed Asner read for the 35th anniversary broadcast. See complete 2005 cast list.
• And more photos... Click an image to see a larger version