"The Cossacks: A Tale of 1852" by Leo graf Tolstoy (translated by Louise Maude, Aylmer Maude). Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

The Cossacks (Russian: Казаки [Kazaki]) is a short novel by Leo Tolstoy, published in 1863 in the popular literary magazine The Russian Messenger. It was originally called Young Manhood. Both Ivan Turgenev and the Nobel prize-winning Russian writer Ivan Bunin gave the work great praise, Turgenev calling it his favorite work by Tolstoy. Tolstoy began work on the story in August 1853. In August 1857, after having reread Iliad, he vowed to completely rewrite The Cossacks. In February 1862, after having lost badly at cards he finished the novel to help pay his debts. The novel was published in 1863, the same year his first child was born.

A new translation into modern American English directly from the original Russian manuscript. This edition contains an Afterword by the translator, a timeline of Tolstoy's life and works, and a glossary of philosophic terminology used throughout Tolstoy's literature and philosophy. The Cossacks A Caucasian Tale of 1852 (1852) is a novella by Leo Tolstoy that recounts the experiences of a young Russian aristocrat, Olenin, who joins the military and travels to the Caucasus region. Set against the breathtaking backdrop of the Caucasus Mountains, the novella delves into Olenin's fascination with the Cossack way of life and his romantic involvement with a local girl named Maryanka. Through Olenin's journey of self-discovery and his interactions with the Cossacks, Tolstoy explores the clash between the allure of a simpler, unspoiled existence and the complexities of modern society. The novella's literary merit lies in its vivid descriptions of the natural world, its introspective portrayal of Olenin's character development, and its thematic exploration of the search for authentic meaning and belonging.

This 1862 novel, in a vibrant new translation by Peter Constantine, is Tolstoy' s semiautobiographical story of young Olenin, a wealthy, disaffected Muscovite who joins the Russian army and travels to the untamed frontier of the Caucasus in search of a more authentic life. While striving to adopt the rough and ready lifestyle of the local Cossacks, Olenin falls in love with a free-spirited girl whose fiancé turns out to be a formidable opponent. Showcasing the philosophical insight that would characterize Tolstoy' s later masterpieces, this long overdue translation is a revelation.