Leo Tolstoy then spent much of his time in Moscow, Tula and Saint Petersburg, leading a lax and leisurely lifestyle. He began writing during this period, including his first novel "Childhood", a fictitious account of his own youth, which was published in 1852. In 1851, after running up heavy gambling debts, he went with his older brother to the Caucasus and joined the army. Tolstoy served as a young artillery officer during the Crimean War and was in Sevastopol during the 11-month-long siege of Sevastopol in 1854–55, including the Battle of the Chernaya. During the war he was recognised for his bravery
What Is to Be Done? (Tolstoy) the same Biblical reference (Luke 3:10–14). What Is to Be Done? (Tolstoy) What Is To Be Done? (sometimes translated as What Then Must We Do?) is a non-fiction work by Leo Tolstoy, in which Tolstoy describes the social conditions of Russia in his day. Tolstoy completed the book in 1886, and the first English language publication came in 1887 as What To Do?. A revised translation with the current title was published in 1899. The English title was also used for two better-known works by Nikolai Chernyshevsky and Vladimir Lenin; Tolstoy's Russian title is similar but not identical to Chernyshevsky's