With an Introduction & Biography by Henry Claridge
University of Kent at Canterbury
No Englishman was better placed to write a biography of Leo Tolstoy than Aylmer Maude (1858-1938). Maude met Tolstoy in Russia in 1888 and was a frequent visitor to Tolstoy's home in Moscow and his estate at Yasnaya Polyana. After returning to England in 1897, Maude maintained regular correspondence with Tolstoy. With the aid of his wife, Louise, Maude began the task of translating Tolstoy's works into English and the twenty-one volumes of the Tolstoy Centenary Edition is one of the monumental achievements of modern translation. It was Tolstoy himself who authorised Maude to write his biography and The Life of Tolstoy, published here in the revised edition of 1930, remains the best introduction to the great novelist's life and works.