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.

The Cossacks
Sevastopol Stories
Sevastopol in December
Sevastopol in May
Sevastopol in August 1855
Hadji Murat

Notes
Glossary