Leo Tolstoy
Writing the greatest novels in world literature β War and Peace and Anna Karenina β with unparalleled realism.
Biography
Leo Tolstoy was a Russian writer widely considered one of the greatest novelists of all time. Born into aristocracy at Yasnaya Polyana in 1828, he served in the Crimean War before turning to literature. War and Peace and Anna Karenina are regularly ranked among the finest novels ever written. Tolstoy's later life was marked by a radical moral and spiritual crisis that led him to renounce his wealth and aristocratic lifestyle. His philosophical writings on nonviolent resistance influenced Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. He died in 1910 at a remote railway station.
Best Starting Book
Anna Karenina
More accessible than War and Peace but equally brilliant β a timeless exploration of love, society, and the search for meaning.
Reading Order
Anna Karenina
More focused and emotionally immediate than War and Peace β a devastating love story with perfect structure.
War and Peace
The ultimate novel β once you're ready for the commitment, nothing in literature compares.
The Death of Ivan Ilyich
A short masterpiece about mortality and meaning β devastating in just 80 pages.
Hadji Murad
A late novella about the Caucasus wars β lean, powerful, and deceptively simple.
Resurrection
His last major novel β a nobleman confronts the injustice of the system he benefits from.