The liberation of the serfs: the emergence of the future “kulaks”.Complication of the situation of the Russian nobility (дворянство).Period of rapid change in Russian society.Definitive book version appeared in 1879.Refused mainly because of Tolstoy’s sarcastic depiction of the Russian volunteers going to fight in Serbia. Journal refused the last part, so that the instalment version ended with Anna’s suicide.Novel written and published from 1873 to 1877 in “thick journal” Russky vestnik (The Russian Messenger).In fact a complex interweaving of themes and characters.Commonly seen simply as a novel about an extra-marital affair that ends in suicide (cf Flaubert, Madame Bovary).Opening sentence famous, frequently quoted: “All happy families are alike each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”.At least nine film and TV film versions, plus theatrical dramatizations.Considered one of the world’s greatest novels.