The Madness and Genius of Leo Tolstoy | A Bedtime History Documentary

He inherited a vast estate, gambled away his fortunes, wrote the greatest novels of his age, and finally walked away from it all in search of a radical, uncompromising faith. We'll explore Leo Tolstoy’s life in this feature-length documentary. For those seeking a deep exploration of literary genius, spiritual crisis, or an engrossing bedtime history story, this soothing narrative is crafted for you. It's designed for deep relaxation – the perfect history for sleep, guiding you toward a restful night.

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For a deeper understanding and for further reading, this narrative draws on Rosamund Bartlett's “Tolstoy: A Russian Life”, Charlotte Alston's “Tolstoy and his Disciples: The History of a Radical International Movement”, Donna Tussing Orwin's “The Cambridge Companion to Tolstoy”, and Alexandre Christoyannopoulos's “Christian Anarchism: A Political Commentary on the Gospel”.

In this documentary episode, we explore the extraordinary life of Leo Tolstoy. Our story follows his childhood on the aristocratic estate of Yasnaya Polyana and his wild, restless youth in Kazan and Moscow. We trace his journey to the Caucasus and the Crimean War, where the horrors of Sevastopol shattered his illusions of military glory. We examine his return to the literary salons of Saint Petersburg, his pioneering educational experiments, and the intense domestic years that produced the masterpieces War and Peace and Anna Karenina. We follow his profound spiritual crisis, his rejection of the Russian Orthodox Church, and his development of a radical Christian anarchism based on the Sermon on the Mount. We witness his excommunication, his rise as a global moral authority influencing figures like Gandhi, and the tragic collapse of his marriage. Finally, we look at his desperate midnight flight into the winter snow and his final days at a remote railway station, leaving a legacy that challenged the foundations of the modern world.

CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:02:24 Yasnaya Polyana

00:11:06 The Young Tolstoy

00:18:45 Sevastopol and the Horror of War

00:25:44 War and Peace

00:32:47 Anna Karenina and the Abyss

00:39:17 The Crisis, and A Confession

00:46:58 The Sermon on the Mount as Political Programme

00:54:23 The Kingdom of God Is Within You

01:00:40 Tolstoy and the World

01:08:11 Resurrection, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, and Art After Conversion

01:15:26 Communes, Followers, and Contradictions

01:20:58 Sophia, Love, and Mutual Destruction

01:26:24 The Flight and the Death

01:34:07 Why Tolstoy Still Matters

Thank you for joining us! We hope you find this Bedtime Biography of Leo Tolstoy both insightful and wonderfully calming.

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