Leo Tolstoy

Tolstoy, Leo (1828–1910), Russian novelist. Educated at Kazan University, he served in the army, married in 1862, and spent the next 15 years on his estate at Yasnaya Polyana near Moscow. In this period he produced his masterpieces, including War and Peace (1865–69), an epic of vast imaginative scope and variety of character, telling the story of five families against the background of the Napoleonic invasion of Russia. Anna Karenina (1875–77), the tragic story of an adulterous affair, is remarkable for its psychological portrayal. In later years Tolstoy experienced a spiritual crisis, recounted in his Confession (1882), and embraced an ascetic philosophy of Christian anarchism. His other works include Childhood (1852), The Cossacks (1863), and Resurrection (1899).