17 Readings on Tolstoy

On this day in 1828 (Old Style date; New Style the date is September 9), Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was born. We scoured our archives and offer this list of readings on his life and works.

1. A short biography of Tolstoy. {online subscription required}
2. A rumination on reading the great author and on reading in Russian, by Bob Blaisdell.
3.  A translation of two short stories by Tolstoy, also by Bob Blaisdell.
4. Seven fun facts about War and Peace, by Eugenia Sokolskaya?
5. An offsite link to a New Yorker piece by James Wood, on how War and Peace works.
6. On visiting a Tolstoy retreat outside Samara. {online subscription required}
7. Visiting Sophia Tolstaya in the kitchen. {online subscription required}
8. War, Peace and Cable – on the 2016 War and Peace miniseries.
9. Can you read Anna Karenina every day? Let's find out.
10. And what about reading Anna Karenina the first time?
11. A pair of Americans trace Tolstoy's walking journey from Moscow to Tula. {online subscription required}
12. A book on Tolstoy's final flight and death in a train station. {online subscription required}
13. On the descendants of the great writer. {online subscription required}
14. Optina Pustyn – a retreat the Tolstoy favored. {online subscription required}
15. An article on the central messages in Tolstoy's writings. {online subscription required}
16. The Christian sect that Tolstoy helped survive with proceeds from one of his final books. {online subscription required}
17. A recipe for hot apple compote that Tolstoy loved. {online subscription required}