High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Anna Karenina (Russian: Анна Каренина; Russian pronunciation: ) (sometimes anglicised as Anna Karenin) is a novel by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, published in serial installments from 1873 to 1877 in the periodical The Russian Messenger. Tolstoy clashed with its editor Mikhail Katkov over issues that arose in the final installment; therefore, the novel`s first complete appearance was in book form.