A short novel set in the 19th-century Caucasus, concerning -- in part -- conflicts between the occupying Russians and Muslim groups in the region. Tolstoy, who spent four years in the Russian army in the Caucasus, based his story on a real-life mountain warrior. Originally published posthumously in 1923, this edition includes an introduction by John Burt Foster that puts the novel in its historical context.  (CCS18, $11.95)