The Cossacks

Disillusioned with the empty glamour of Moscow society, young aristocrat Dmitry Olenin joins the army and is posted to a remote Cossack village in the Caucasus. There he encounters a world of fierce independence, raw nature, and passionate simplicity that both seduces and confounds him. He falls under the spell of Maryanka, a proud Cossack beauty already promised to the dashing Lukashka. As Olenin tries to shed his old self and become one with the Cossacks, he discovers that belonging cannot be earned—only lived. Tolstoy’s classic story of love, honor, and the gulf between civilizations is here retold in clear, vivid English for today's reader. Part of Timeless Classics.