Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (; Russian: Лев Никола́евич Толсто́й, tr. Lev Nikoláyevich Tolstóy, IPA: [lʲef nʲɪkɐˈlaɪvʲɪtɕ tɐlˈstoj] ( listen); 9 September [O.S. 28 August] 1828 – 20 November [O.S. 7 November] 1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. Born to an aristocratic Russian family in 1828, he is best known for the novels War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877), often cited as pinnacles of realist fiction.