Tolstoy: Sebastopol in May and Sebastopol in December

by Leo Tolstoy

Overview

The three 'Sebastopol Stories' were based on Tolstoy's experience as a serving solider in the besieged Crimean city in 1854 and 1855. First published in book form in 1856, they consolidated the reputation the young Tolstoy had established with Childhood (1852).
In Sebastopol in December, cast in the form of a guided tour of the city, Tolstoy chronicles both the patient suffering and the undemonstrative heroism of the city's defenders and civilian population. Sebastopol in May focuses on the officer class, particularly the vacillating Mikhailov and the doomed Praskukhin, the description of whose death is one of the most celebrated passages in Russian literature. In these stories Tolstoy's anti-war stance, so important in War and Peace and his later non-fictional works, is already clearly delineated. (The third story, Sebastopol in August, is not included in this edition.)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781853993534
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/01/1998
Series:	Russian Texts
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

A Russian author of novels, short stories, plays, and philosophical essays, Count Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was born into an aristocratic family and is best known for the epic books War and Peace and Anna Karenina, regarded as two of the greatest works of Russian literature. After serving in the Crimean War, Tolstoy retired to his estate and devoted himself to writing, farming, and raising his large family. His novels and outspoken social polemics brought him world-wide fame.

Date of Birth:

September 9, 1828

Date of Death:

November 20, 1910

Place of Birth:

Tula Province, Russia

Place of Death:

Astapovo, Russia

Education:

Privately educated by French and German tutors; attended the University of Kazan, 1844-47