A stunning new translation of Tolstoy's immersive inventive and masterfully ironic account of
the Crimean War and of the profound light that violence shines on human nature. "[Tolstoy's]
fiction changed the way human beings think about themselves." -- George Saunders Crimea 1854:
residents in the besieged city of Sevastopol look out over a harbor punctured by the masts of
scuttled ships and taunt the French forces that keep them trapped behind defensive walls. So
begins Leo Tolstoy's account of nine months of shelling destruction courage vanity glory
and death. Based on his own experiences as an artillery officer in the Crimean War Tolstoy
uses a kaleidoscopic range of narrative techniques to build up a picture of the conflict
wheeling from officer to soldier cannon to barracks. The first tale 'Sevastopol in December'
takes us on a tour of the besieged city where spirits are high but defenses are crumbling. In
'Sevastopol in May' we enter the fray with a group of officers some honorable and brave some
foolish vain and shallowly preoccupied with status - and some all of these at once.
'Sevastopol in August' brings the story to a close following the fates of two brothers in the
final battle for the city. Communicated in prose marked by vivid sensation and profound irony
Tolstoy's questions - about the nature of truth and heroism and about why we choose to pay the
high human price of conflict - are as relevant as ever.
