In honor of his newly created religion, Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy renounces his title, property, and family in favor of poverty and celibacy. For the Countess Sofya, his wife of nearly fifty years, this is the last straw! After she discovers his plans to leave the rights to his iconic novels to the Russian people rather than his own family, she decides to use every trick of seduction in her considerable arsenal, to fight for what she believes is...

In "The Death of Ivan Ilyich, " a middle-aged judge falls gravely ill and is shunned by his materialistic family; and in "Confession, " Tolstoy charts his own religious evolution from his rejection of the Orthodox Church to his embrace of spirituality.

A rich collection of short stories from the Russian master.

Examines the personal and artistic life of Tolstoy, and separates biographical facts from literary myths.

A collection of critical essays on Tolstoy and his works arranged in chronological order of publication.