Show Notes
He inherited a vast estate, gambled away his fortunes, wrote the greatest novels of his age, and finally walked away from it all in search of a radical, uncompromising faith. We'll explore Leo Tolstoy’s life in this feature-length documentary. For those seeking a deep exploration of literary genius, spiritual crisis, or an engrossing bedtime history story, this soothing narrative is crafted for you. It's designed for deep relaxation – the perfect history for sleep, guiding you toward a restful night. History After Dark is entirely viewer funded. Supporting for just a few dollars a month keeps this channel alive and gets you access to a completely ad-free experience. https://www.patreon.com/cw/HistoryAfterDark Welcome to History After Dark! That's our quiet corner of the internet, where we create relaxing history narratives and soothing bedtime stories. If you enjoy these soothing explorations of fascinating lives and eras, please: ⭐️ Leave us a 5-star rating – it truly helps others discover our content! 🔔 Follow History After Dark for more Bedtime Biographies. We'd also love to hear from you in the COMMENTS below. Let us know which historical era or intellectual figure you think we should explore in a future video. For a deeper understanding and for further reading, this narrative draws on Rosamund Bartlett's “Tolstoy: A Russian Life”, Charlotte Alston's “Tolstoy and his Disciples: The History of a Radical International Movement”, Donna Tussing Orwin's “The Cambridge Companion to Tolstoy”, and Alexandre Christoyannopoulos's “Christian Anarchism: A Political Commentary on the Gospel”. In this documentary episode, we explore the extraordinary life of Leo Tolstoy. Our story follows his childhood on the aristocratic estate of Yasnaya Polyana and his wild, restless youth in Kazan and Moscow. We trace his journey to the Caucasus and the Crimean War, where the horrors of Sevastopol shattered his illusions of military glory. We examine his return to the literary salons of Saint Petersburg, his pioneering educational experiments, and the intense domestic years that produced the masterpieces War and Peace and Anna Karenina. We follow his profound spiritual crisis, his rejection of the Russian Orthodox Church, and his development of a radical Christian anarchism based on the Sermon on the Mount. We witness his excommunication, his rise as a global moral authority influencing figures like Gandhi, and the tragic collapse of his marriage. Finally, we look at his desperate midnight flight into the winter snow and his final days at a remote railway station, leaving a legacy that challenged the foundations of the modern world. CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:24 Yasnaya Polyana 00:11:06 The Young Tolstoy 00:18:45 Sevastopol and the Horror of War 00:25:44 War and Peace 00:32:47 Anna Karenina and the Abyss 00:39:17 The Crisis, and A Confession 00:46:58 The Sermon on the Mount as Political Programme 00:54:23 The Kingdom of God Is Within You 01:00:40 Tolstoy and the World 01:08:11 Resurrection, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, and Art After Conversion 01:15:26 Communes, Followers, and Contradictions 01:20:58 Sophia, Love, and Mutual Destruction 01:26:24 The Flight and the Death 01:34:07 Why Tolstoy Still Matters Thank you for joining us! We hope you find this Bedtime Biography of Leo Tolstoy both insightful and wonderfully calming. #Tolstoy #History #RussianLiterature #BedtimeBiography #HistoryAfterDark #RelaxingHistory #HistoryForSleep #AudioBiography #RussianHistory #Literature
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From 1936 to 1939, a fractured nation became a laboratory of terror, where the world's most dangerous ideologies devoured each other. This was the Spanish Civil War. In it, democracy, fascism, communism, and anarchism collided on a single, blood-soaked battlefield. It started in the summer of 1936, when a deeply fractured Spain exploded into violence. Foreign powers rushed in to test their deadliest new weapons, while idealists from across the globe flocked to fight fascism. But what began as a heroic defense of a Republic soon decayed into a brutal internal purge. In this feature-length documentary, we explore the terrifying complexities of the Spanish Civil War, how a nation was consumed by international geopolitics, and the tragic betrayal of a people's revolution by its own allies. History After Dark survives on viewer solidarity. If you value deep, independent history, please consider supporting us as a YouTube Member or on Patreon for the price of a coffee every month. In return, you’ll get access to a completely ad-free experience and can cast votes for the topics of future episodes. https://www.patreon.com/cw/HistoryAfterDark If you enjoy these soothing explorations of fascinating lives and thought, please: ⭐️ Leave us a 5-star rating – it truly helps others discover our content! 🔔 Follow History After Dark for more documentaries. For further reading, this narrative draws on: 📚 Ronald Fraser, Blood of Spain 📚 Paul Preston, The Spanish Civil War: Reaction, Revolution, and Revenge 📚 Burnett Bolloten, The Spanish Civil War: Revolution and Counterrevolution 📚 Martha A. Ackelsberg, Free Women of Spain If you enjoy these deep dives into fascinating historical lives and events, please 👍 Like this video – it truly helps others discover our content! 🔔 Subscribe to @historyafterdarkfilms for more feature-length documentaries. 00:01:00 The Tinderbox 00:11:04 The Spark and the Storm 00:20:13 Power to the People 00:30:30 The Grand Camouflage 00:40:56 The Fatal Compromise 00:48:52 Forging the Iron Fist 00:58:30 The Shadow State 01:04:42 Terror From the Skies 01:15:32 The May Days 01:26:38 The Purge and the Puppet 01:39:02 The Grip of the Secret Police 01:45:14 The Bitter End 01:56:33 The Shadow of Spain #SpanishCivilWar #History #HistoryAfterDark #Documentary #Fascism #Anarchism
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