Companion Web Site
Excerpt from the Introduction.
Reviews
A featured review in the Wall Street Journal.
A featured review in the London Review of Books.
A review in Times Higher Education.
"The Death of Tolstoy is a highly sophisticated, richly contextualized, and—above all else—elegantly written account not only of Tolstoy's last days but also of the cult of this international celebrity author. It is more gripping than any novel or film I know on this complicated set of events. William Nickell's book is essential reading not only for those who would understand the late Tolstoy but also for those concerned with the cultural institutions of the modern world."—William Mills Todd III, Harvard College Professor and Harry Tuchman Levin Professor of Literature, Harvard University
"Tolstoy was the leading public figure in Russia when he died in 1910. His dramatic death produced a firestorm of commentary and discussion and not only among the cultural elite. In this fascinating book William Nickell captures the drama of his death and explores the range of Russians’ fascination with his life and that of his family. The volume is beautifully illustrated and well produced. It is also a pleasure to read."—Jeffrey Brooks, The Johns Hopkins University
"William Nickell's account of the dramatic death of Russia's greatest literary genius is a haunting evocation of an era and the extraordinary moment that defined it. Rich in documentary detail, The Death of Tolstoy provides an intimate portrait of a private family crisis that encapsulates a public and social evolution in mores on the eve of the Russian Revolution. This is certain to be one of the most important books in Russian cultural studies this decade."—Amy Mandelker, Graduate Center of the City University of New York
"William Nickell's account of Tolstoy's death, its circumstances, and its consequences is the most thorough in any language. The story Nickell tells about the final days and death of a great writer is important in itself, but his careful charting of the reaction of family, the public in all its complex manifestations, church, and state to this death turns into a fascinating revelation of the state of Russian society just before World War I."—Donna Tussing Orwin, University of Toronto