Childhood, Boyhood and Youth were originally published in separate parts in the 1850s. This trilogy portrays a fictionalized version of the author's formative years in Russia. "Childhood" and "Boyhood" were written when Tolstoy was in the army; "Youth" was composed during a visit to western Europe. Years later, he said, "What I aimed at was not to write my own history, but that of friends of my youth." Tolstoy sought to communicate the intense emotions, confusions, and fears of a young boy as he grows up.