10 Smartest Human Beings Of All Time

The nineteenth century was full of brilliant novelists, such as Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, and Fyodor Dostoevsky. But Leo Tolstoy was the best of the bunch.

War and Peace is perhaps the most famous novel from this Russian author. The story focuses on several aristocratic families during the Napoleonic Wars and, despite the size of the book, it’s a lot more accessible than you might think. Tolstoy’s characters are nothing short of perfection. They’re so rounded, complex, and vivid that it’s easy to forget you’re reading a fictional story. By the time you get to the end of this four-volume masterpiece, said characters have undertaken huge arcs which never fail to feel authentic.

Though War and Peace is the most impressive of Tolstoy’s works, all his novels are held in high esteem by readers and critics alike, especially Anna Karenina and The Death of Ivan Ilyich.

As well as his unparalleled knack for storytelling, Tolstoy was also a philosophical writer. He wrote many essays which covered a range of topics, including political science and the value of Christianity.