The final years

As an old man Leo Tolstoy is very quick to publicly criticise the State but, unlike many of his contemporaries, he escapes being exiled. Being born into the aristocracy helps, because he has friends in high places, but so does his extraordinary level of influence at home and abroad.

He does not directly support the revolutionary movement or align himself with a particular organisation – except the Tolstoyans – but those agitating for change recognise him as a hero of the common people and embrace him. The Government fears his capacity to provoke an uprising. The Church excommunicates him, causing great indignation.

Severe tensions between Chertkov and Sophia over the copyright of his books affect his health. Desperate to escape the tension and close the chasm between his own way of life and his principles, he flees from his home. He dies in a train station, a long way from his beloved Yasnaya Polyana.

Unpopular with government
Excommunication by the church
Clashes over his inheritance
Death