Constance Garnett

"Tolstoy produced many drafts of Anna Karenina. Crafting and recrafting each sentence with careful intent, he was anything but casual in his use of language. His project, translator Marian Schwartz observes, "was to bend language to his will, as an instrument of his aesthetic and moral convictions." In her magnificent new translation, Schwartz embraces Tolstoy's unusual style - she is the first English language translator ever to do so. Previous translations...

At a glittering society party in St Petersburg in 1805, conversations are dominated by the prospect of war. Terror swiftly engulfs the country as Napoleon's army marches on Russia, and the lives of three young people are changed forever. The stories of quixotic Pierre, cynical Andrey and impetuous Natasha interweave with a huge cast, from aristocrats and peasants, to soldiers and Napoleon himself. In War and Peace (1868-9), Tolstoy entwines grand...

Twenty-six-year-old Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin returns to Russia after spending several years at a Swiss sanatorium. Scorned by the society of St. Petersburgh for his idiocy, generosity and innocence, he finds himself at the centre of a struggle between a beautiful kept woman and a gorgeous, virtuous girl, both of whom win his affection. Unfortunately, Myshkin's very goodness seems to precipitate disaster, leaving the impression that, in a world...

One of the most profound works of modern literature, Notes from Underground (first published in 1864) remains a cultural and literary masterpiece. Fyodor Dostoyevsky is best, known for his psychological works of fiction. His characters and plots all carry psychosomatic troubles and problems that help make the stories more relatable to the reader. In these pages, Dostoevsky unflinchingly examines the dark, mysterious depths of the human heart. In this...

First published in 1862 after Dostoyevsky's imprisonment in a Siberian labor camp, "The House of the Dead" is a collection of memoirs, related by themes, that portrays the horrific life of convicts. The author drew on his own experiences in prison to depict the squalor, destitution, and severity of a Siberian camp with remorseless detail. Dostoyevsky reveals the characters of many of the other convicts, which includes the depravity many have come...

Based on a true event, in which a young revolutionary was murdered by his comrades, The Possessed provoked a storm of controversy for its harsh depiction of a ruthless band of Russian intellectuals, atheists, socialists, anarchists, and other radicals who attempt to incite the population of a small provincial town to revolt against the government. In contrast to Dostoevsky's savage portrait of these radicals and the violent ideas that have possessed...

Considered to be one of the greatest short story writers in the history of world literature, Chekhov initially wrote stories solely for financial gain but as his artistic ambition grew, he made formal innovations that have influenced the evolution of the modern short story. The six selections in this collection showcase Chekhov's aptitude for detail, dialogue, humor and compassion.

The story of three very different brothers following the murder of their barbaric father.