My Religion

At fifty, Leo Tolstoy nearly drowned in despair. The author of War and Peace and Anna Karenine had everything, and found it meaningless. Then, in a spiritual awakening that would reshape his life and echo across a century, he returned to the Gospels and discovered a Christianity no church had ever taught him. This is his account: a radical rereading of Jesus that rejects mysticism, institutional religion, and even the Resurrection in favor of one bracing command, do not resist evil. Tolstoy argues that true Christian faith demands pacifism, poverty, and absolute nonviolence. The Russian Orthodox Church called this heresy and excommunicated him. Mohandas Gandhi read it in South Africa and wrote to thank the old count for showing him the path of nonviolent resistance that would transform history. Part memoir, part theological revolution, My Religion remains a challenge: what if everything you've been told about faith is wrong? For readers who trust questions more than answers, who want their spirituality unmediated and uncomfortable, this is the book that started a revolution.