To one not familiar w with the Russian language the accessible data relative to the external life of Leo Ni­kolaevich Tolstoi the author of this book are to say the least not voluminous. His name does not appe­ar in that heterogeneous record of celebrities known as The Men of the Time nor is it to be found in M. Vapereau's comprehensive Dictionnaire des Contem­porains. And yet Count Leo Tolstoi is acknowledged by competent critics to be a man of extraordinary genius who certainly in one instance has produ­ced a masterpiece of literature which will continue to rank with the great artistic productions of this age.