In her introduction to Tolstoy: A Russian Life, Rosamund Bartlett writes that "the greatest task facing the biographer of Tolstoy is the challenge of making sense of a man who was truly larger than life." Bartlett is no stranger to the sort of meticulous research required of a biographer who chooses to delve into such a vast project: an authority on Russian cultural history, she has already written an acclaimed biography of Anton Chekhov and translated much of his writing. Yet Tolstoy is more than a well-researched synopsis of a great writer's life and works. As the subtitle suggests, Bartlett has written a superb history of one of Russia's most famous and influential men of all time.
As might be expected in a Tolstoy biography, Bartlett's book is lengthy, with nearly 100 pages just for notes and bibliography. For all its size, though, it is rarely slow or weighed down by its scholarship. Bartlett is careful to include details about Tolstoy's family, friends and surroundings as they influenced his maturation, both as a man and as a writer. She is honest in discussing Tolstoy's flaws and equally compelling as she examines the spiritual and intellectual journey that ultimately culminated in his rejection of both personal possessions and relationships at the end of his life. A final chapter exploring Tolstoy's global impact, even after his death, provides an unexpected and satisfying ending to this engaging biography. --Roni K. Devlin, owner of Literary Life Bookstore & More