Hadji Murat is a relatively short novel written by Leo Tolstoy. This novel was published in 1912, after his death; Tolstoy's narrative falls under the category of historical fiction.
The novel pivots around a war in which a brave chieftain, Hadji Murat, was forced to flee to the Russians to save his own life. while he remained safe for a while, those who had betrayed him initially came back to haunt him, leading to a battle that ended up killing him.
While the author has covered a number of intense themes in this novel, one of the central ones is the futility of war. Tolstoy comments upon the needless death and destruction caused by it. Many of the events in the novel were actually witnessed by the author, a fact that makes his narrative even more real and intense.
