Works
Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina abandons her husband and son for a passionate affair with Count Vronsky, setting in motion a tragedy of inexorable social and moral consequence. Published in serial form in 1878, Tolstoy's novel is one of the supreme achievements of realist fiction.
The Death of Ivan Ilyich
A high-court judge confronts a slow, painful death and is forced to examine whether his entire successful life has been a lie. Tolstoy's 1886 novella is the most devastating short work in Russian literature — a compressed, ferocious assault on bourgeois self-deception.
War and Peace
Set against the backdrop of Napoleon's invasion of Russia, Tolstoy's 1869 novel follows five aristocratic families across fifteen years of war, love, and transformation. At over half a million words, it is one of the longest and most ambitious works of fiction ever written.
