In this landmark biography of Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, A. N. Wilson narrates the complex drama of the writer’s life: his childhood of aristocratic privilege but emotional deprivation, his discovery of his literary genius after aimless years of gambling and womanizing, and his increasingly disastrous marriage. Wilson sweeps away the long-held belief that Tolstoy’s works were the exact mirror of his life, and instead traces the roots of Tolstoy’s art to his relationship with God, with women, and with Russia. He also breaks new ground in recreating the world that shaped the great novelist’s life and art—the turmoil of ideas and politics in nineteenth-century Russia and the incredible literary renaissance that made Tolstoy’s work possible. "Admirable. . . . Absorbing. . . . Superb."—Anthony Burgess "Stands as a model of the biographer’s art: intelligent and opinionated, yet judicious—and, what’s more, deliciously readable."—Michiko Kakutani, New York Times
- ISBN10 0393321223
- ISBN13 9780393321227
- Publish Date 3 May 2001 (first published 23 May 1988)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 9 March 2021
- Publish Country US
- Imprint WW Norton & Co
- Format Paperback
- Pages 626
- Language English