At the midpoint of "War and Peace", Tolstoy describes the character of Pierre observing this "enormous and brilliant comet [...] which was said to portend all kinds of woes and the end of the world". The comet was popularly thought to have portended Napoleon's invasion of Russia (even being referred to as "Napoleon's Comet") and the War of 1812, among other events. In the musical "Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812," Pierre witnesses the comet. When asked why the comet made it into the title of the show, the composer Dave Malloy responded "for cosmic epicness."