
In Book Two, Rostov meets up with Mishka, his old friend, who is romancing a woman named Katerina. Rostov also meets the Bishop, a waiter who Rostov dislikes because he's bad at his job. Nina teaches Rostov about the inner workings of the hotel and eventually gives him a passkey for the hotel. Rostov meets Nina, who is a long-term guest of the hotel. In Book One, Rostov begins his house arrest and moves into a humble, small room at the Metropol. On June 21, 1922, after the Russian Revolution, Rostov manages to avoid a death sentence due to his status as a revolutionary hero, but his noble birth means he is still sentenced to house arrest at the Metropol Hotel, where he has been living for many years. The Prologue introduces Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, a Count who became a revolutionary hero due to a poem he wrote.
