Sevastopol stories. Sevastopol in December. Sevastopol in May

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy (1828-1910) - great Russian writer, thinker, enlightener, whose ideas became the basis of a whole religious and moral current - Tolstoy, four -time nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature, the author of the outstanding novels "War and Peace", "Anna Karenina" , "Resurrection", the novels "Death of Ivan Ilyich", "Kreutzerov Sonata", "Haji Murat", stories "Caucasian captive", "Holstomer", "Leo and Dog" and many. Dr. Tolstoy was a representative of the count"s branch of the noble family, born in a hereditary estate - the estate of Yasnaya Polyana in the Tula province, where he later opened a school for peasant children. He lost his parents early and was brought up by guardians. Throwing the university and becoming a junker, with the outbreak of Crimean war, the young count transferred to the Danube Army, bravely fought, and from the end of 1854 until mid -1855 he served in Sevastopol: he commanded a battery in a heavy battle at the Black River, was during a bombardment during the historical assault on Malakhov Kurgan. The first outline of the Sevastopol Stories cycle was written by him according to the latest impressions and resembles a report quickly published by the Nekrasov magazine "Contemporary", the essay caused a real splash with a visible picture of the horrors of war. The story attracted the attention of even the emperor, and Tolstoy proposed to publish a regular "military leaf ”, but he was refused a request. The second essay - "Sevastopol in May", created during June 8 (Tolstoy then transferred to the very “terrible” 4th bastion), was more artistic, despite the fact that he described real events on the night of May 10 to 11, but In terms of impact, reliability was even deeper, because, as the author himself concluded, the “hero of my story <...> truth”. Nekrasov as an editor complained: "Tolstoy sent an article about Sevastopol - but this article was performed by such sober and deep truth that there is nothing to think of printing it. ” The essay nevertheless appeared in the press - in a changed form and without the signature of the author. For the defense of Sevastopol Tolstoy, he was awarded the Order of St. Anna "For Courage" and two medals. Turgenev wrote to him: "Your gun is a pen, not a saber." The publication consists of two books, the first two parts of the essays are published in this