"What is religion?" is a collection of articles and letters written by the mature Tolstoy of 1901 and 1902. Published originally by the Free Age Press, it features all his trademark clarity and insight. Contained here is a wide variety of subject matter, including a look at the causes of social inequality, various attacks on the church and reflections on a recent political assassination. "How shall we escape?" opens with a brilliant rural vignette exposing the absurd inequalities of the social order. Tolstoy believes that ultimately it"s the government who is to blame for such inequity; but instead of choosing the path of the revolutionary, he encourages people to look inwardly at themselves, where the power of violence and evil lie. In "My reply to the synod" Tolstoy responds to the church"s Edict of Excommunication, in which they accuse Tolstoy of being seduced by the pride of his intellect. In his reply, Tolstoy quotes Coleridge approvingly: "He who begins by loving...