Sebastopol

Three linked stories follow the defence of the Russian port of Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula. The first is set in winter, the second in spring and the third in late summer, so the collection tracks the siege across the seasons. Tolstoy served as an artillery officer in the city during the Crimean War, and the stories draw on that experience. Rather than glorifying combat, they show the danger, boredom and confusion of the men who fight and the ordinary people caught around them, and they build a steady case against the futility and cruelty of war.