The Cossacks

About “The Cossacks”

The Cossacks is a short novel by Leo Tolstoy, published in 1863 in the literary magazine The Russian Messenger. It was originally titled Young Manhood. The work received high praise from writers such as Ivan Turgenev and Ivan Bunin. Tolstoy began writing the story in August 1853 and later decided to completely rewrite it after rereading the Iliad in 1857. He finished the novel in February 1862, partly to pay off debts after a losing streak at cards. The novel was published in the same year that Tolstoy's first child was born.