When The King Loses His Head & Other Stories

First published in 1920 ‘When the King Loses His Head & Other Stories’ is a short story collection form the renowned Russian author Leonid Andreyev. Some of the best-known stories in the collection include ‘Lazarus’, an exploration of how Lazarus really felt upon returning from the grave, an interpretation of Judas’s personality and motives in ‘Judas Escariot’ and the evocative ‘Dies Irae’. With prominent religious themes and inspiration, this is a collection which explores the human condition and relationship with fate. A fascinating introduction to the Russian author.



Leonid Andreyev (1871-1919) was a Russian playwright, novelist, and short-story writer. Born in the city of Oryol, Andreyev studied law in Moscow and St Petersburg. He went on to become a police court-reporter but continued to write poetry in his spare time. His first short story was published in 1898, and Andreyev’s literary fame quickly grew after the 1901 publication of his first short story collection. Widely regarded as the father of Russian expressionism, Andreyev’s works are often haunting, dark, pessimistic, and controversial. His body of work includes two novels, five novellas and a number of short stories and plays. The most well-known of them include the story ‘The Seven Who Were Hanged’, ghost story, ‘Lazarus’, the play ‘Tsar Hunger’, and his novel ‘Sashka Zhegulev’. He died in Finland in 1919.