Brief Lives: Tolstoy

Born in central Russia in 1828, Count Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy is a true colossus of world literature, and his novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina are among the best-loved in any language. Born into a privileged family, this fearsome autodidact saw action as a soldier before becoming a writer and went on to father thirteen children.

Not merely a gifted novelist, he was an influential essayist, in particular on the subject of religion, and was passionate and vociferous about educational reform.

Anthony Briggs, pre-eminent Russian scholar and acclaimed translator of War and Peace, here gives a fresh reading of the life and legacy of this most intriguing of figures. By considering why such a strong character as Tolstoy welcomed into his life three appalling individuals who wrought an irrevocable and malign influence, he arrives at a wholly novel picture of a well-loved great.

This new biography is the perfect Tolstoy companion both for those well-versed in his works and those approaching them for the first time.