Childhood 1852 is a novel by Leo Tolstoy. Published at the beginning of his career as a leading Russian author of his generation Childhood is the first in a trilogy of semiautobiographical novels tracing Nikolenkas journey from innocence to experience. As a record of the past a nostalgic reminder of a lost world Childhood is one of Tolstoys most personal works and yet his prose shows signs of the universal religious and philosophical themes that would inspire such masterpieces as War and Peace 1869 and Anna Karenina 1877. A story of life and death love and grief Childhood is an invaluable treasure of Russian literature. How beautiful Mammas face was when she smiled It made her so infinitely more charming and everything around her seemed to grow brighter If in the more painful moments of my life I could have seen that smile before my eyes I should never have known what grief is. Devoted to his mother Nikolenka is a young Russian boy born into prosperity. As his story unfolds we see him experience love grief and anger for the first time in his life returning us for a brief moment to our own childhoods the bittersweet memories of good and bad things that can never return. Praised for its expressionistic style and meditative prose Childhood won Tolstoy the attention of Russias literary elite launching his career as one of the nineteenth centurys most influential artists.Since our inception in 2020 Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover all while maintaining the integrity of the original book. With thousands of titles in our collection we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.