Leo Tolstoy (September 9, 1828 – November 20, 1910) was a Russian writer who earned fame and global renown for his novels <br/>War and Peace<br/> and <br/>Anna Karenina<br/>. Writing during the late 19th century, Tolstoy lived during a literary period in which Realism flourished, and today his two novels are considered the apex of realist fiction. Dostoevsky himself declared<br/>Anna Karenina "flawless as a work of art," and it is invariably included among discussions of the greatest novels ever.