Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
What if there was a man who could influence the course of history, from writings he produced hundreds of years after he lived? What if this man had visionaries of a revolution that would change his country forever, before it was thought in the back of anyone else’s mind? What if I told you that there was a man who lived and did all those things, then what?
His name was Leo Tolstoy. Born on August 28, 1828, and raised in Yasnaya Polyana, Russia. At the age of nine, he became an orphan, and was sent to live with his aunts. His aunts privately tutored him, which was a primitive source for education none the less. But at the age of 16, he was sent to the University of Kazan to study law and language. Shortly after he became bored with his classes, and moved back to Yasnaya without a degree. While there he struggled to try and educate the serfs, without much success. He left for Moscow and St. Petersburg shortly after.
In 1851 he joined the army with his brother, and while in service he finished his first work; recognizing him as a novelist. After his discharge from the army, he was influenced by the “dissatisfaction with his libertine existence.” http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-TolstoyL.html. By this age he was developing his own ideas and thoughts about religion and philosophy. “He condemned capitalism, private property, and the division of labor.” http://64.70.157.91/Literature/Biographies/Literary/Tolstoy.htm. Civilization was corrupt, and life should be kept simple. Tolstoy developed his writing styles and themes from these feelings in his life.
Out of all of Tolstoy’s novels, or short stories, War and Peace is his masterpiece. War and Peace is regarded as one of the world’s greatest novels ever. It describes Russia’s social history within five aristocratic families of Russia during the war with Napoleon. This book portrays a theory of history in which may or may not be played out to plan. The main point...
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