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The Cossocks
By Leo Tolstoy
Originally titled Young Manhood, this volume is often considered the fourth state in the masterpiece of Tolstoy's youth begun by Childhood. The young Tolstoy's main aims as a writer were to recreate reality and to order it according to higher moral truth. He used his own self-observation, especially in this volume, to bring about his understanding of humanity and the human condition. Published in 1863 after nearly a decade of work, the volume received mixed reviews in the press but was greeted ecstatically by friends, family and some of his literary peers including fellow Russian novelist Turgenev, who considered it his favorite of Tolstoy's works.
