Anna Karenina

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was a Russian writer and social reformer, who is considered one of greatest novelists of all time. His was born to an aristocratic Russian family, and his first novel, Childhood (1852), was based on his youthful experiences. As a young man he fought in the Crimean War, an endurance that formed many of his radical moral and social beliefs and formed the basis of many of his works. Although his greatest novels are War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877), his novellas, short stories, and philosophical works have held a profound influence throughout the world.