Leo Tolstoy Reading Order

13 books (1969–2023)

This twelve-book anthology series spans from 1969 to 2023 and should be read in publication order. The collection includes diverse literary compilations featuring works by Leo Tolstoy and other authors, ranging from war narratives and animal stories to novellas, letters, and Christmas tales. The series appears to be complete, offering readers a comprehensive selection of classic fiction and non-fiction across multiple genres and themes.

Start with War: An Anthology, the first of 12 books in the Anthologies series.

#	Title
1	War: An Anthology 1969Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Magical Realist Fiction 1984Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Famous and Curious Animal Stories 1989Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Horse & Pony Stories 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	On Suicide: Great Writers on the Ultimate Question 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	50 Classic Novellas 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Selected Stories by Leo Tolstoy 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Letters to Change the World: From Pankhurst to Orwell 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Writers: Their Lives and Works 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	50 Masterpieces You Have To Read Before You Die Vol. 1 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	Following the Call: Living the Sermon on the Mount Together 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	The Dover Anthology of Classic Christmas Stories 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	The Greatest Tales of Regency Romance 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

3 books (1852–1856)

Leo Tolstoy's three-book autobiographical novel sequence spans from 1852 to 1856 and should be read in publication order beginning with Childhood. The complete series consists of Childhood, Boyhood, and Youth, which trace the author's formative years through interconnected narratives. These literary works blend fiction with personal reflection, offering readers insight into Tolstoy's early life and psychological development during the nineteenth century.

Start with Childhood and read in order.

#	Title
1	Childhood 1852Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Boyhood 1854Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Youth 1856Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

1 book (2022–2022)

9 books (1885–2018)

This complete series collects nine volumes of fables and moral tales by Russian literary master Leo Tolstoy, published between 1885 and 2018. The books should be read in publication order, beginning with What Men Live by and Other Tales. Each volume contains philosophical stories exploring themes of human nature, morality, and spiritual wisdom through Tolstoy's distinctive narrative style. The series represents a significant portion of Tolstoy's shorter works written in his later years, when he increasingly focused on accessible parables for general readers.

Start with What Men Live by and Other Tales, the first of 9 books in the Leo Tolstoy Fables series.

#	Title
1	What Men Live by and Other Tales 1885Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	How Much Land Does a Man Need? and Other Stories 1886Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Ivan the Fool 1886Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Candle 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The Godson 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	The Wisdom of Children 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Two Old Men 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Esarhaddon, And Other Tales 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Where Love is There God is Also 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

24 books (1391–2020)

Leo Tolstoy's Non-Fiction series comprises 23 works published between 1391 and 2020, exploring philosophical, religious, and social themes through essays and treatises. The collection includes foundational texts such as A Confession, The Kingdom of God Is Within You, and A Calendar of Wisdom, alongside shorter pieces on topics ranging from vegetarianism to Shakespeare. These works should be read in publication order to best follow the development of Tolstoy's thought and arguments. The series is complete, beginning with What Then Must We Do? and spanning nearly six centuries of publication history.

Start with What Then Must We Do?, the first of 23 books in the Non-Fiction series.

#	Title
1	What Then Must We Do? 1391Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	A Confession 1880Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The Gospel in Brief 1883Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	What I Believe 1884Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	On Life and Essays on Religion 1887Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	The First Step: on vegetarianism 1892Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	The Kingdom of God Is Within You 1893Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Bethink Yourselves! 1904Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	A Calendar of Wisdom 1906Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Tolstoy on Shakespeare 1906Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	A Letter to a Hindu 1908Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	The Law of Love and the Law of Violence 1909Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	The Slavery of Our Times 1972Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	Guy De Maupassant 1974Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	Why Do Men Stupefy Themselves? 1975Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	Christianity and Patriotism 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	What Is to Be Done? and Life 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	Church and State and Other Essays 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	The Christian Teaching 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
20	The Four Gospels Harmonized and Translated by Leo Tolstoy 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
21	The Gospel in Tolstoy 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
22	Religion and Morality 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
23	The Diaries Of Leo Tolstoy 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
24	What is Art? 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

24 books (1853–2017)

This collection contains 24 short stories and novellas by Leo Tolstoy spanning from 1853 to 2017, presented in the order they were originally published. The series includes celebrated works alongside lesser-known pieces, offering a comprehensive view of Tolstoy's shorter fictional forms across his literary career. Read these entries in publication order to trace the evolution of his themes and style from early stories like The Raid through later philosophical works such as The Death of Ivan Ilych and Master and Man. The series is complete and encompasses both fiction and non-fiction explorations of Russian life, morality, and the human condition.

Start with The Raid, the first of 24 books in the Short Stories/Novellas series.

#	Title
1	The Raid 1853Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Two Hussars 1856Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Albert 1858Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Family Happiness 1859Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The Cossacks 1863Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	A Prisoner in the Caucasus 1872Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	God Sees the Truth, but Waits 1872Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Kholstomer 1886Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	The Death of Ivan Ilych 1886Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	The Kreutzer Sonata 1889Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	Walk in the Light While There is Light 1893Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	Master and Man 1895Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	Father Sergius 1911Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	The Devil 1911Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	The Forged Coupon 1911Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	Hadji Murat 1912Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Polikushka and Two Hussars 1955Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	A Lost Opportunity 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	Divine and Human and Other Stories 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
20	The Long Exile and Other Stories 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
21	An Old Acquaintance 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
22	Three Questions / The Emperor's Three Questions 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
23	Diary of a Lunatic/Three Deaths 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
24	Work, Death, and Sickness 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

6 books (1855–2017)

This five-book series collects short stories and shorter works by Leo Tolstoy, spanning from 1855 to 2017. The collection should be read in publication order, beginning with The Sebastopol Sketches and continuing through Twenty-three Tales, Short Novels, The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories, and concluding with Leo Tolstoy's 20 Greatest Short Stories and Selected Short Stories. The series is complete and blends literary fiction with non-fiction elements characteristic of Tolstoy's diverse writing across shorter narrative forms.

Start with The Sebastopol Sketches, the first of 5 books in the Short Story Collections series.

#	Title
1	The Sebastopol Sketches 1855Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Twenty-three Tales 1907Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Short Novels 1979Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Leo Tolstoy's 20 Greatest Short Stories 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Selected Short Stories 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

4 books (1867–2004)

Leo Tolstoy's four standalone novels span from 1867 to 2004 and should be read in publication order beginning with War and Peace. Each novel stands alone and can be enjoyed independently, though reading them sequentially offers insight into the author's evolving literary style across works of literary fiction and philosophical exploration. The complete series includes War and Peace, Anna Karenina, The Resurrection, and The Decembrists.

Start with War and Peace, the first of 4 books in the Standalone Novels series.

#	Title
1	War and Peace 1867Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Anna Karenina 1877Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The Resurrection 1899Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Decembrists 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

5 books (1886–2019)

Leo Tolstoy's Standalone Plays series comprises five dramatic works published between 1886 and 2019, spanning literary fiction and non-fiction genres. These plays, including The Power of Darkness, The Light That Shines in the Darkness, The Man Who Was Dead and the Cause of It All, The Living Corpse, and The Fruits of Enlightenment, should be read in publication order. The series is complete and each play stands independently, allowing readers to explore Tolstoy's theatrical output across different periods of his career.

Start with The Power of Darkness, the first of 5 books in the Standalone Plays series.

#	Title
1	The Power of Darkness 1886Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Light That Shines in the Darkness 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The Man Who Was Dead and the Cause of It All 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Living Corpse 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The Fruits of Enlightenment 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible