The four classic tales in this volume illuminate Leo Tolstoy’s radical orientation toward war and commerce, revealing his vision for a sustainable, peaceable world. The feature story, Ivan the Fool, presents an archetypal fool who works hard, cooperates with everyone, and manages to foil every attempt to cause his downfall.
In the end, peasant life comes out on top, while the pillars of imperial Russian society topple down. Esarhaddon, King of Assyria, explores a king’s empathy-based revelation to end all violence; and A Grain as Big as a Hen’s Egg playfully looks at the relationship between health, soil, labor, and food economies.
