MORE TROUBLE WITH TOLSTOY - DARK DAYS AND NIGHTS OF THE SOUL

The final episode of BBC 1's account of Tolstoy's life was, perhaps inevitably, not so enjoyable as the first. Indeed, the author's final days were compared with the tragedy of King Lear. Although Tolstoy famously disliked Shakespeare, preferring the English Victorian writer Mrs Henry Wood, of whose novel "The Maze" he wrote favourably to his brother. However, whilst this detail was omitted by Alan Yentob, Tolstoy's own novels of Anna Karenina and Resurrection were explored, together with the spirit of Christian anarchy which the author came to embody. Tolstoy's political interests where also developed, including his correspondence with the future Indian leader Gandhi, as well as fears amongst the Russian authorities of a Tolstoyan revolution. Nevertheless, whilst not exactly uplifting, the conclusion of Yentob's reflections on the life of Tolstoy struck a thoughtful note, certainly something to be welcomed in the present time.