Louise Maude

A married woman falls blindly in love with a handsome military officer. Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. States Leo Tolstoy in his great modern novel of an adulterous affair set against the backdrop of Moscow and St. Petersburg high society in the later half of the nineteenth century. A sophisticated woman who is respectably married to a government bureaucrat, Anna begins a passionate, all-consuming involvement...

A rich, visual record of the vices of petty officialdom, Tolstoy's novel of spiritual regeneration recounts the sins of a young Russian nobleman and his attempts in later life to redress those transgressions. A panoramic view of Russian social life at the end of the 19th century, Resurrection pointedly articulates the author's contempt for the social injustices of the world in which he lived.

Written over a period of more than half a century, these stories reflect every aspect of Tolstoy's art and personality. They cover his experiences as a solder in the Caucasus, his married life, his passionate interest in the peasantry, his cult of truth and simplicity, and, above all, his growing preoccupation with religion. Ranging in scope from mini-novels like The Kreutzer Sonata and Hadji Murad to tiny folktales a few pages long, they provide...