Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was a Russian writer regarded as one of the greatest authors of realist fiction.
Both aristocratic parents died during his infancy, and he was brought up by relatives. As a young man he drank and gambled heavily, and failed at university. In 1851 he joined the army and fought during the Crimean War, and began to write. In 1862, at age 34, he married Sophia (Sonya) Behrs, aged 18, who bore him 13 children, eight of whom survived childhood. Their early married life was happy, and she acted as his secretary, proofreader, and financial manager. In the 1870s he experienced spiritual conversion, and renounced many of his previous beliefs in favor of ascetic religious beliefs including pacifism. His marriage deteriorated, and shortly before his death at age 82 he absconded from the family home in the depths of winter, and died soon after of pneumonia.
Sevastopol Sketches was first published in 1855, and in three short stories describes the cruelty and futility of war through the thoughts and words of Russian officers fighting at Sevastopol.
The source text was an 1888 translation by Isabel F. Hapgood from a source which cannot be identified since I have silently used the author's original title, omitted the publisher's advertising, amended one of the footnotes and made them end notes, corrected typos, and curled right single quotes. I have used American English, and made changes to spelling and hyphenation using oxforddictionaries.com set to American English.
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