Tolstoy considered this book to be his first real attemptat a novel form, and it addresses the very nature ofsociety at all levels - of destiny, death, humanrelationships and the irreconcilable contradictions ofexistence. It ends tragically, and there is much thatevokes despair, yet set beside this is an aboundingjoy in life's many ephemeral pleasures, and a profusionof comic relief.

Anna Karenina is one of the most loved and memorableheroines of literature. Her overwhelming charmdominates a novel of unparalleled richness and density.

Tolstoy considered this book to be his first real attemptat a novel form, and it addresses the very nature ofsociety at all levels - of destiny, death, humanrelationships and the irreconcilable contradictions ofexistence. It ends tragically, and there is much thatevokes despair, yet set beside this is an aboundingjoy in life's many ephemeral pleasures, and a profusionof comic relief.

INTRODUCTION

VOLUME ONE

LIST OF CHARACTERS IN PARTS I-IV

LIST OF RUSSIAN WORDS

PART I

PART II

PART III

PART IV

VOLUME TWO

LIST OF CHARACTERS IN PARTS V-VIII

PART V

PART VI

PART VII

PART VIII

NOTES