
Sevastopol
by Leo Tolstoy
'Sevastopol' Summary
Sevastopol in December
In Sevastopol in December, Tolstoy uses second person narrative (with the pronoun 'you') in an introductory tour of life in Sevastopol. The detailed tour is arguably similar to one Tolstoy may have been given upon arrival in Sevastopol in November, 1854. As part of the tour, the narrator takes you through the dressing station, which is a makeshift hospital in the Assembly Hall. Here you find wounded soldiers, amputees, "some of them on camp beds, but most of them lying on the floor". Tolstoy also uses Sevastopol in December to introduce the reader to the settings, mannerisms, and background he uses in Sevastopol in May and Sevastopol in August. For example, when referring to the enemy, either the British or the French, only the French are featured in the Sketches; they are referred to as "'him', as both soldiers and sailors say" (Tolstoy 198).
Sevastopol in May
In Sevastopol in May, Tolstoy examines the senselessness and vanity of war. The story examines many aspects of the psychology of war, heroism, and the misleading presence of humanism in truces (misleading because countries continuously go to war with one another, despite past truces). Tolstoy concludes by declaring that the only hero of his story is truth.
Sevastopol in August
Sevastopol in August depicts the conclusion of the siege of Sevastopol and the eventual defeat and withdrawal of the Russian forces. The narrative alternates between following Mikhail and Vladimir Kozeltsov, two brothers who both fight and eventually die for the Russian side of the conflict.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
RussianPublished In
1855Authors

Leo Tolstoy
Russia
Leo Tolstoy was a significant figure in Russian literature, known for his novels "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina." These works are celebrated examples of realist fiction, examining human experience...
Books by Leo TolstoyDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books

The Garies and their Friends by Frank Webb
The book which now appears before the public may be of interest in relation to a question which the late agitation of the subject of slavery has raise...

France At War: On the Frontier of Civilization by Rudyard Kipling
In 1915, as the "Great War" (World War 1) entered its second year Rudyard Kipling made a journalistic tour of the front, visiting French armed forces....

Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Orlando is a fictional biography that follows the adventures of Orlando, a character who initially identifies as a male aristocrat but later transform...

Stories and Pictures by I. L. Peretz
This collection of short stories, originally written in Yiddish and later translated into English, offers a poignant and insightful glimpse into the l...

Juan Martín el Empecinado by Benito Pérez Galdós
Set during the Spanish War of Independence against Napoleonic France, "Juan Martín el Empecinado" follows Gabriel de Araceli, a young officer who join...

The Sailor's Word-book, H - M by William Henry Smyth
Embark on a voyage into the rich and mysterious world of the sea with "The Sailor's Word-Book, H-M" by Admiral William Henry Smyth. This meticulously...

Black-Bearded Barbarian by Mary Esther Miller MacGregor
This fictionalized biography chronicles the life and work of George Mackay, a Presbyterian missionary who dedicated his life to evangelizing and servi...

A Fleet In Being; Notes Of Two Trips With The Channel Squadron by Rudyard Kipling
Kipling became involved in the debate over the British response to the rise in German naval power known as the Tirpitz Plan to build a fleet to challe...

The Winnowing Fan: Poems On The Great War by Robert Laurence Binyon
This little gem of a book contains twelve poems about World War I. There is more to it than its intrinsic value as verse. Edward Elgarset three of the...

Good Soldier; A Selection Of Soldiers' Letters, 1914-1918 by N. P. Dawson
'Good Soldier: A Selection of Soldiers' Letters, 1914-1918' presents a poignant and intimate glimpse into the lives of soldiers from various nations d...
Reviews for Sevastopol
No reviews posted or approved, yet...