In 1851, at the age of twenty-two, Tolstoy joined the Russian army. The four years he spent as a soldier were among the most significant in his life and inspired the tales collected here. In ?The Cossacks,? Tolstoy tells the story of Olenin, a cultured Ru
The stories collected in this volume demonstrate Tolstoys artistic prowess displayed over five decades experimenting with prose styles and drawing on his own experiences with humor and compassion. The Two Hussars, inspired by his time in the army,