Perhaps the best way to describe the reciprocal feelings of Leo and Sonya Tolstoy is to quote from their own diary entries. He said: "Nobody will ever understand me." She said: "He has never taken the trouble to understand me, and does not know me in the least." It was a marriage that reached to the highest heights, and sank to the lowest depths... over and over again in each direction. And anyone wanting to know more about it should not neglect Shirer's excellent book. By seesawing between the extensive diaries of these two "lovers" Shirer takes the reader right into the eye of the storm... one of the most amazing things about this tumultuous marriage is the extensive and meticulous documentation of the participants. And the author's collation, skillful narrative sense and endnote pages show that he was well acquainted with the extenuating circumstances of these two lives trying to live as one. The latter half of the book is to be commended for its appropriate emphasis on the disastrous influence of Chertkov, the disciple who became the usurper of Tolstoy's most profound devotion. In my opinion, this rift named Chertkov gradually became the uncrossable chasm that irreparably separated Leo and Sonya. During this time, Tolstoy's alliance with his daughter Sasha further alienated husband and wife, and Shirer covers this development with great insight. It's all here... from the peace, courtship, and high hopes of Yasnaya Polyana to the final conflict, rejection and despair of Astapovo.

Shirer knew this was to be his last book, and it was. After such a prolific and successful career (14 books and 52 years), to devote his last energies to such a work must imply that he took a special interest in the subject matter. It shows. All of the other books of his I've read have been excellent, and this one is no exception.