Bartlett draws extensively on key Russian sources, including much fascinating new material made available since the collapse of the Soviet Union. She sheds light on Tolstoy's remarkable journey from callow youth to writer to prophet; discusses his troubled relationship with his wife, Sonya, a subject long neglected; and vividly evokes the Russian landscapes Tolstoy so loved. Above all, she gives us an eloquent portrait of the brilliant, maddening, and contrary man who has, once again, been discovered by a new generation of readers.

Originally published: London : Profile, 2010.

Ancestors : the Tolstoys and the Volkonskys -- Aristocratic childhood -- Orphanhood -- Youth -- Landowner, gambler, officer, writer -- Literary duellist and repentant nobleman -- Husband, beekeeper, and epic poet -- Student, teacher, father -- Novelist -- Pilgrim, nihilist, muzhik -- Sectarian, anarchist, holy fool -- Elder, apostate, and tsar -- Epilogue: Patriarch of the Bolsheviks.