The Cossacks

This 1862 novel in a vibrant new translation by Peter Constantine is Tolstoy’s semiautobiographical story of young Olenin a wealthy disaffected Muscovite who joins the Russian army and travels to the untamed frontier of the Caucasus in search of a more authentic life. While striving to adopt the rough and ready lifestyle of the local Cossacks Olenin falls in love with a free-spirited girl whose fiancé turns out to be a formidable opponent. Showcasing the philosophical insight that would characterize Tolstoy’s later masterpieces this long overdue translation is a revelation.