'If the world could write by itself, it would write like Tolstoy' Isaac Babel
Crimea, 1854: Sevastopol's inhabitants taunt the besieging forces that keep them trapped behind defensive walls. So begins Leo Tolstoy's depiction of nine months of battle and bravery, based on his own experiences in the Crimean War.
This new translation by acclaimed translator Nicolas Pasternak Slater introduces us to long-suffering citizens, vain hussars and the courageous Kozeltsov brothers - one jaded and pragmatic soldier, one naïve and hungry for glory. Enduringly vivid, profoundly ironic, Tolstoy's portrayal of the stumble from triumph to disaster captures the absurdity at the heart of conflict.
