Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828-1910) was one of the greatest novelists and moral thinkers of the nineteenth century. Born into a Russian aristocratic family, Tolstoy first achieved international fame through his epic novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina. In midlife, however, he underwent a profound spiritual crisis that led him to question wealth, privilege, and the institutions of church and state.During his later years Tolstoy devoted himself to religious and philosophical writing that explored the ethical teachings of Jesus and the moral responsibilities of the individual. Works such as The Kingdom of God Is Within You, What I Believe, and What Then Must We Do? articulated his belief in nonviolence, simplicity, and the authority of personal conscience.Tolstoy's ideas deeply influenced social reformers and political thinkers around the world, including Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., and continue to shape discussions of nonviolence, Christian ethics, and social justice.