This collection gathers several early tales by Leo Tolstoy, introduced by Nathan Haskell Dole as vivid, personal works from the writer's formative years. Their realism is sharp and intimate, and they return again and again to gambling, war, death, moral awakening, and the uneasy clash between idealism and lived experience. Among them, A Prisoner in the Caucasus is especially praised for its simple force and its unforgettable figure of Dina. In A Russian Proprietor, the young Prince Dmitri Nekhliudof leaves the university determined to become a benevolent country gentleman and devote himself to the welfare of his peasants. His aunt warns him that this dream is naïve, but he persists, only to discover on his estate how far noble intentions are from rural reality. A visit to the peasant Ivan Churis and his collapsing hut exposes poverty, neglect, and the gulf between masterly plans and human hardship. Elsewhere, the collection turns to Albert, an impassioned, eccentric violinist whose artistic fervor is bound up with instability, poverty, and obsession. Through his memories of an aristocratic woman, his lyrical reflections, and Delesof's anxious attempts to help him, Tolstoy creates a moving portrait of genius shadowed by suffering. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.
