In 1872 the mistress of a neighbouring landowner threw herself under a train at a station near Tolstoy's home. This gave Tolstoy the starting-point he needed for composing what may beleive to be the greatest novel ever written. In Anna Karenina he moved away from the vast historical sweep of War and Peace to tell, with extraordinary understanding, the story of an aristocratic woman who brings ruin on herself. Anna's tragedy is interwoven with the courtship and marriage of Kitty and Levin as well as the lives of many other characters. Rich in incident, powerful in characterization, the novel also expresses Tolstoy's own moral vision. This classic translation remains unsurpassed.
