Autobiography of Countess Tolstoy

This autobiography of Count Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy's wife contains much material with regard to Tolstoy which has not previously been available for English readers. The question of Tolstoy's "going away" and of his relations with his wife, Countess Sophie Tolstoy, and other members of his family, has roused the most passionate interest and controversy in Russia. This is partly due, no doubt, to the dramatic and psychological interest of the whole story, but is also due very largely to the fact that Tolstoy's actions were bound up with his teachings, and his numerous disciples and opponents were watching the struggle of the preacher to put his principles in practice in his own life. The importance of this book lies in the fact that in it for the first time Countess Sophie Andreevna Tolstoy herself states here own case in full. The reader should, however, remember that it is only one side of the case.