Жизнь Льва Толстого

Leo Tolstoy has long been the hallmark of Russian culture, but in modern Russia his perception is often clouded by stereotypes coming from the Soviet tradition - school teaching, the desire to contrast Tolstoy the artist with Tolstoy the thinker. Meanwhile, today Tolstoy is strikingly relevant: the idea of ​​non-violent resistance, vegetarianism, downshifting, the demand for refusal of military service, the fight for the preservation of nature, the attitude towards love and sexuality - everything that seemed to be his oddity is becoming the world intellectual mainstream. A new short biography of the great writer traces the main lines of his fate and creativity. Tolstoy's artistic and philosophical heritage is considered here on a par with military experience, peasant labor and family tragedy. This “integrative” approach allows us to talk about him outside of tired discussions about “contradictions” and to more clearly discern the unique consistency and integrity of his life path. Andrey Zorin - literary historian, professor at Oxford University and Moscow School of Economics and Social Sciences.