I owe sincere thanks also to my friend P. I. Birukóf, Tolstoy's Russian biographer. He modestly speaks of his own work as 'a collection of those materials for the biography of Leo Tolstoy which are accessible to me.' I have no hesitation in saying that his care and integrity in gathering and using those materials, entitle him to the gratitude of all who deal with the same subject. There is one small matter of typography which needs a word of explanation. I have sought to tell as much of the story as possible in Tolstoy's own words, and have also had occasion to quote other writers. At times the Russian text quoted contains allusions or expressions which might perplex an English reader unless a word or two of explanation were added. To introduce paragraphs of explanation would interrupt the narrative, besides lengthening the book. To have recourse to frequent footnotes in cases where two or three words of explanation are all that is required is unsightly and unsatisfactory; so I have adopted the plan of using square brackets [ ] to enclose such explanations. The ordinary round parentheses ( ) I have kept for their common use, and for cases where, for clearness' sake, words are added that are not contained in the original. Beyond indicating the varying value of sums of money mentioned, I have not troubled the reader with the fluctuations of the rouble, which went from over 38 pence before the Crimean war, to 19 pence after the Russo-Turkish war of 1878. If he wants a concise history of the Russian currency, he can find it in the preface to my edition of _Sevastopol_. In that as in other matters I have tried to be accurate without being pedantic. It is Tolstoy and his views that I aim at presenting to English readers; and I have kept in the background, as far as I could, the obstacles resulting from the Tower of Babel. AYLMER MAUDE. GREAT BADDOW, CHELMSFORD, _20th August 1910_. CONTENTS PREFACE v NOTE ON PRONUNCIATION OF RUSSIAN NAMES xiii I. ANCESTRY AND PARENTAGE 1 II. YOUTH AND EARLY MANHOOD 16 III. THE CAUCASUS 59 IV. THE CRIMEAN WAR 93 V. PETERSBURG; LOVE AFFAIR; DROUZHÍNIN 138 VI. TRAVELS ABROAD 166 VII. AT YÁSNAYA AGAIN; TOURGÉNEF; ARBITER; MAGAZINE 214 VIII. THE SCHOOL 246 IX. MARRIAGE 282 X. NEARING THE CRISIS 329 XI. CONFESSION 399 XII. WORKS: 1852-1878 427 CHRONOLOGY 450