In 1851 Leo Tolstoy enlisted in the Russian army and was sent to the Caucasus to help defeat the Chechens. During this war a great Avar chieftain, Hadji Mur├бd, broke with the Chechen leader Shamil and fled to the Russians for safety. Months later, while attempting to rescue his family from ShamilтАЩs prison, Hadji Mur├бd was pursued by those he had betrayed and, after fighting the most heroic battle of his life, was killed.
Tolstoy, witness to many of the events leading to Hadji Mur├бdтАЩs death, set down this story with painstaking accuracy to preserve for future generations the horror, nobility, and destruction inherent in war.