Leo Tolstoy: 582 books

In 1872 the mistress of a neighbouring landowner threw herself under a train at a station near Tolstoy's home. This gave Tolstoy the starting point he needed for composing what many believe to be the greatest novel ever written. In writing Anna Karenina he moved away from the vast historical sweep...

An alternative version – the one Tolstoy originally intended, but has been hitherto unpublished – of Russia’s most famous novel; with a different ending, fewer digressions and an altered view of Napoleon – it’s time to look afresh at one of the world’s favourite books. ‘War and Peace’...

"Sevastopol Sketches (Sebastopol Sketches)" is a collection of three works of historical fiction in which Tolstoy draws upon his real life experiences during the Siege of Sevastopol. The titular location draws its name from that of a city in Crimea and takes place during the Crimean war. The three tales...

The last novel written by Tolstoy, "Resurrection" was first published in 1899 amidst huge anticipation. What surprised the world was Tolstoy's story of a guilt-ridden nobleman, haunted by the sins of his past and seeking a way to atone for them. The aristocratic Prince Dmitri Ivanovich Nekhlyudov serves...

The ten stories collected in this volume demonstrate Tolstoy's artistic prowess displayed over five decades - experimenting with prose styles and drawing on his own experiences with humour, realism and compassion. Inspired by his experiences in the army, 'The Two Hussars' contrasts a dashing father...

'no one pitied him as he would have liked to be pitied' As Ivan Ilyich lies dying he begins to re-evaluate his life, searching for meaning that will make sense of his sufferings. In 'The Death of Ivan Ilyich' and the other works in this volume, Tolstoy conjures characters who, tested to the limit,...

Love... it means too much to me, far more than you can understand. At its simplest, Anna Karenina is a love story. It is a portrait of a beautiful and intelligent woman whose passionate love for a handsome officer sweeps aside all other ties - to her marriage and to the network of relationships and...

When Marshal of the Nobility Pozdnyshev suspects his wife of having an affair with her music partner, his jealousy consumes him and drives him to murder. Controversial upon publication in 1890, The Kreutzer Sonata illuminates Tolstoy’s then-feverish Christian ideals, his conflicts with lust and...

Considered one of the best books ever written, "War and Peace" has remained in the upper echelon of world literature because it masterfully captures an intimate view of humanity on an epic scale. Through the use of fictional narrative, Tolstoy utilizes a huge cast of characters, centering...

“Over the past hundred years we have had numerous versions . . . of [Tolstoy’s] major works. This volume, however, is arguably the best so far.” —Times Literary Supplement In the last two days of his own life, Peter Carson completed these new translations of The Death of Ivan Ilyich...

Considered one of the best books ever written, "War and Peace" has remained in the upper echelon of world literature because it masterfully captures an intimate view of humanity on an epic scale. Through the use of fictional narrative, Tolstoy utilizes a huge cast of characters, centering...

One of Tolstoy’s last published works of fiction, The Devil revolves around the young landowner Yevgeny’s irrepressible lust for Stepanida, a sensual peasant woman. Even when he gets married to a respectable upper-class lady, he finds himself unable to put an end to his encounters with Stepanida,...

A man boards a train: the confined space of the carriage triggers potent memories. Soon he is confessing to a terrible crime, one for which he holds Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata responsible. ‘Nancy Harris’s English adaptation combines icy precision with mordant wit…’ - Charles Spencer,...

We know of no better introduction to the spiritual vision of one of the greatest writers of all time. This anthology vividly reveals – as none of his novels, novellas, short stories, plays, or essays could on its own – the great Russian novelist’s fascination with the life and teachings of Jesus...