Cossacks and Other Stories

In 1851, at the Age of Twenty-Two, Tolstoy Joined the Russian Army and Travelled to the Caucasus As a Soldier. the Four Years That Followed Were Among the Most Significant in His Life, and Deeply Influenced the Stories Collected Here. Begun in 1852 but Unfinished for a Decade, "The Cossacks" Describes the Experiences of Olenin, a Young Cultured Russian Who Comes to Despise Civilization After Spending Time With the Wild Cossack People. Sevastopol Sketches, Based on Tolstoy's Own Experiences of the Siege of Sevastopol in 1854-55, is a Compelling Consideration of the Nature of War, While Hadji Murat, Written Towards the End of His Life, Returns to the Caucasus of Tolstoy's Youth to Explore the Life of a Great Leader Torn Apart by a Conflict of Loyalties. Written at the End of the Nineteenth Century, It is Amongst the Last and Greatest of Tolstoy's Shorter Works.