"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) Tolstoy, the youngest of four sons came from a prominent Russian family. He was a good athlete but a mediocre student. He joined the army as a Junker (volunteer) and it was during his time at a lonely Cossack outpost that he began to write. His great novel War and Peace came at the high point of his personal life - his marriage in 1862 to the handsome and intelligent Sofya Bers heralded a decade of great creativity and a happy home life. His work represents a high point in the history of world literature.