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Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. Leo Tolstoy Russian novelist Лев Никола́евич Толсто́й (Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, known in English as Leo Tolstoy) was born in Russia on 9 September 1828. His parents were nobles, but both died when he was young so he was brought up by relatives. Tolstoy studied Law and Oriental Languages at Kazan University, but left partway through his studies. He was described as “both unable and unwilling to learn” by the teachers there. In 1851, after running up gambling debts, he joined the army with his brother. Tolstoy married in 1862 and he and his wife had thirteen children. As was often the case in those days, only eight survived childhood. He was happily married for many years although in later life, as his views became more radical, he rejected his privileged upbringing and inheritance, which caused tension with his wife. He died of pneumonia in 1910. Tolstoy is considered one of the giants of Russian literature, and his epic story War and Peace, which was first published in 1869, is generally thought to be one of the greatest novels ever written. The book tells the story of five families from 1805 to the French invasion of Russia in 1812. Click here for a (rather dated) trailer for the 1956 film adaptation. Although not actually related to War and Peace, click here for a video of the Independence Day fireworks on 4 July 2014 set to the 1812 Overture (a piece of music written by fellow Russian composer Tchaikowsky, which deals with the same war as Tolstoy’s novel).