Reginald F Christian - Böcker

With typically disarming modesty, the author, Professor Reginald Christian, writes in his preface, 'This is a book about a book, and as such it is doubtful it would meet with Tolstoy's approval if he were alive today. He goes on to say however, 'And yet people will continue to write about Tolstoy, as they continue to write about Shakespeare. The purpose of this book is in the first place to acquaint the English reader with material which will facilitate an understanding of the process of writing War and Peace - material which for the most part has not been translated into English, and which is not always obtainable in Russian: draft version of the novel, Tolstoy's diaries, notebooks and letters, the historical and biographical sources he used, and the secondary critical literature about the novel. In the second place I have attempted to consider certain aspects of the finished work - structural, linguistic, and ideological - and to offer very briefly some possible lines of approach to Tolstoy's art as a novelist.'There are six chapters: The Evolution of the Novel, Use of Sources, Idea and Genre, Structure and Composition, Language, Characterization. War and Peace is arguably the greatest novel ever written. If any novel deserves this sort of critical anatomy it is War and Peace especially when written by one of the greatest Tolstoy scholars of the last one hundred years.

'An important and long-overdue contribution to our knowledge of Tolstoy.' D. M. Thomas, Sunday TimesVolume 1 of Tolstoy's Diaries covers the years 1847-1894 and was meticulously edited by R.F. Christian so as to reflect Tolstoy's preoccupations as a writer (his views on his own work and that of others), his development as a person and as a thinker, and his attitudes to contemporary social problems, rural life, industrialisation, education, and later, to religious and spiritual questions.Christian introduces each period with a brief and informative summary of the main biographical details of Tolstoy's life. The result is a unique portrait of a great writer in the variegation of his everyday existence.'As a picture of the turbulent Russian world which Tolstoy inhabited these diaries are incomparable - the raw stuff not yet processed into art.' Anthony Burgess'A model of scholarship, one of the most important books to be published in recent years.' A. N. Wilson, Spectator

An important and long-overdue contribution to our knowledge of Tolstoy.' D. M. Thomas, Sunday TimesVolume 2 of Tolstoy's Diaries covers the years 1895-1910. These diaries were meticulously edited by R. F. Christian so as to reflect Tolstoy's preoccupations as a writer (his views on his own work and that of others), his development as a person and as a thinker, and his attitudes to contemporary social problems, rural life, industrialisation, education, and later, to religious and spiritual questions. Christian introduces each period with a brief and informative summary of the main biographical details of Tolstoy's life. The result is a unique portrait of a great writer in the variegation of his everyday existence.'As a picture of the turbulent Russian world which Tolstoy inhabited these diaries are incomparable - the raw stuff not yet processed into art.' Anthony Burgess'A model of scholarship, one of the most important books to be published in recent years.' A. N. Wilson, Spectator

'This country's leading Tolstoy scholar has selected, edited and translated a two-volume set of Tolstoy's Letters, which represents academic publishing of the highest kind.' Yorkshire PostLeo Tolstoy was unquestionably the most prolific letter-writer of all the great Russian novelists of the nineteenth century. In this selection of his correspondence, meticulously edited by R. F. Christian, readers can discover Tolstoy's views about his own work and that of other writers, his evolving attitudes towards the times through which he lived, and his deep meditations on family, friends, and himself.This first of two volumes of the Letters is divided into five sections and spans the years from 1828 to 1879. 'Professor Christian's selection is a major act of scholarship and publication.' George Steiner, Sunday Times'Both scholarly and easy to read . . . exceptionally rewarding.' Raymond Williams, Guardian'Enthralling and deeply moving . . . English Tolstoyans will not be extravagant if they attach to this work Thucydides' epigraph "A possession for ever."' Sir William Hayley, Times