To Kill a Mockingbird vs War and Peace: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Classics, Fiction
To Kill a Mockingbird
“When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.”
More
One of the best-loved stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than 40 languages, sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, served as the basis for an enormously popular motion picture,…
War and Peace
More
War and Peace delineates in graphic detail events surrounding the French invasion of Russia, and the impact of the Napoleonic era on Tsarist society, as seen through the eyes of five Russian aristocratic families. The…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- To Kill a Mockingbird is the quickest read — about 5 hours vs 18 for War and Peace.
- War and Peace has the widest readership — 376487 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| To Kill a Mockingbird | War and Peace | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.3 (139288) | 4.2 (376487) |
| Hardcover | 4.2 (4763) | 4.1 (477) |
| Google Books | 3.5 (5) | 5.0 (1) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (5506) | 4.0 (518) |
Reception
| To Kill a Mockingbird | War and Peace | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 139288 | 376487 |
| Editions | 213 | 644 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 2964331 | 689 |
| Reading it now | — | 3118 |
| Written reviews | 139288 | 54 |
| Wikipedia attention | 82737 | 52837 |
| Pages | 309 | 976 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: To Kill a Mockingbird or War and Peace?
To Kill a Mockingbird has the higher combined reader rating across sources (To Kill a Mockingbird 4.3/5, War and Peace 4.2/5).
Which is shorter to read: To Kill a Mockingbird or War and Peace?
To Kill a Mockingbird is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: To Kill a Mockingbird (309 pages, ≈ 5 h 43 m); War and Peace (976 pages, ≈ 18 h 04 m).
Which is harder to read: To Kill a Mockingbird or War and Peace?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — To Kill a Mockingbird: Challenging; War and Peace: Demanding.
Have both books been made into films?
To Kill a Mockingbird: 5 film adaptations; War and Peace: 5 film adaptations.