Leo Tolstoy was a Russian writer widely regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. He is best known for his long novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, considered by many critics as the greatest works of realist fiction. Tolstoy is also known for his short stories, semi-autobiographical works, essays, plays, and novellas.
Although Tolstoy was born into Russian nobility as the son of Princess Marie Volkonsky and Count Nicolas Tolstoy, later in life his beliefs became increasingly radical: he became a Christian anarchist and pacifist, giving up most of his possessions to live a simpler life that more resembled those of peasants.
In 1910, following an argument with his wife,...
