The Prisoner of the Caucasus: Stories

In 1903, Tolstoy told the American journalist James Creelman about his book “Hadji Murad,” calling it a poem about the Caucasus rather than a sermon. The central character is Hadji Murad, a folk hero who served Russia, then fought against it, and in the end was executed by Russians. The book includes stories from the Caucasian cycle, written after Tolstoy returned from the Caucasus to Yasnaya Polyana.