Famous as a novelist, Tolstoy the social philosopher is less well known and understood. He devoted the last thirty years of his life to a search for principles on which a just society could be based. In this was deeply influenced by the work of his American counterpart, Henry George. In 1902 he appealed - in vain - to the last Tsar to introduce land and tax reforms which he regarded as the essential first measures to avert the gathering storm.