Tolstoy, Alexei (1882-1945), was a Russian novelist and playwright. Tolstoy was an excellent storyteller with a vivid, clear style. His most important novel is the three-part Road to Calvary (1921, 1927, 1941). This epic tale describes the tragedies of Russian life during World War I (1914-1918) and deals with the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and the ensuing Russian civil war (1917-1920). The novel recounts the effects of these events on a group of intellectuals. Tolstoy's other major work is an unfinished historical novel, Peter the First (begun in 1929). This monumental work is a rich, though somewhat idealized, portrait of the czar who ruled Russia from 1682 to 1725. Based on extremely thorough historical research, it also presents a broad panorama of Russian life at that time. Tolstoy portrayed Czar Ivan IV in two plays called Ivan the Terrible (1942 and 1943).