Publisher's Synopsis
In the last two days of his life, Peter Carson completed these translations of 'The Death of Ivan Ilyich' and 'Confession' before he succumbed to cancer. Carson, the eminent publisher, editor and translator who, in the words of Mary, 'had probably more influence on the literary landscape of Britain over the past fifty years than any other single person,' must have seen the irony of translating Ilyich, Tolstoy's meditation on death and loss, 'but he pressed on regardless, apparently refusing to be distracted by the parallel of literature and life.'
