An officer in the 14th artillery brigade, Tolstoy participated in many actions of the ill-fated Battle of Sevastopol (1854-55), with its appalling waste of men and means, and its tragic conclusion that laid bare the weakness of the Russian monarchy. Out of this experience arise the three
Sevastopol Sketches
, very different in structure and materials, but absolutely unified in tone and problematic: the harsh, lucid, firm denunciation of the absurdity of war. The real heroine of the three episodes is truth: a truth that is unpleasant, harsh, sometimes repugnant, but which Tolstoy does not want to give up, even at the cost of indisposing his readers. Who, instead, greeted the stories with lively emotion.