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Leo Tolstoy: Escape from Paradise

 

AST, 2010

672 pages

ISBN: 978-5-17-067669-9

 

 

Synopsis

 

Exactly one hundred years ago the peaceful Russian estate of Yasnaya Polyana was the scene of an event which shook the world. At the age of eighty-two, and at the height of his global fame, Count Leo Tolstoy secretly stole out of his house under cover of darkness, accompanied only by his personal physician Makovitsky. Days later the aged master died of a heart attack in a remote train station. His final destination remains unknown. From that moment on, people all over the world have been gripped by the puzzle of Tolstoy’s secret flight and sudden death. Questions abound about Tolstoy’s motivations—was this a final return to his beloved people?—and those of his wife and private secretary. For a century people have been drawn to dramatise this compelling story in books, plays and films.

This incredible interest is inspired not only by the historical significance of Tolstoy’s work and thought, but by the fact that it is very rare that such a profoundly private family conflict is transformed into a moment of world-historical importance. In his new book Pavel Basinsky, a renowned writer, journalist and literary critic, presents not just a new version of events, but a vivid reconstruction of every moment, based strictly on archival and documentary evidence. We follow Tolstoy’s escape step by step, learning the reasons behind his tragic family situation and the secrets surrounding the signing of his will.

 

These events are understood in the full context of Tolstoy’s fascinating life story, key moments from which are reconstructed and explored. The book is richly illustrated with rare photographs from the Tolstoy Estate Museum at Yasnaya Polyana.

 

Praise for Leo Tolstoy: Flight from Paradise

Pavel Basinsky has written an undoubted best-seller. His study of Tolstoy’s flight is a travelogue, whodunit and psychological drama all rolled into one. The author’s approach is careful and tactful, but he still ticks all the boxes for a popular work on Tolstoy. Not long before her death, Tolstoy’s wife Sofia, musing on his disappearance, wrote, “No one knows what happened and it will always be a mystery”. Basinsky’s investigation goes a long way to explaining that ‘mystery’.

In my opinion the two most important books presented at the Moscow International Book Fair were Pavel Basinsky’s Escape from Paradise and Boris Minaev’s Yeltsin. Neither Minaev’s nor Basinsky’s books are too academic: they are extremely subjective, profoundly personal works, which is a large part of the reason they have been so successful. Both works centre around what Tolstoy himself called ‘the idea of family’. Dmitry Bykov, Izvestiya

Basinsky’s revisionist account presents not just an extremely successful compilation of information gathered from all the relevant sources, meeting the highest scholarly standards without being too academic, but a highly original text emerging organically from this material. Basinsky gives us a detailed chronicle of Tolstoy’s life examined from every possible angle. This exemplary piece of non-fiction was deservedly shortlisted for the ‘Big Book’ award. Lev Danilkin, Afisha

Basinsky follows the writer’s path through life—not chronologically, but in reverse: starting from his mysterious flight on a rainy night in 1910 and going all the way back to his childhood. It is a fascinating read, without being too highbrow. Evgenia Kuznetsova, Itogi
An extremely interesting study, not just of Tolstoy’s flight from Yasnaya Polyana, but about the circumstances leading up to it—essentially a non-fiction novel about the life of the great Russian writer. Natalia Kurchatova, Expert