Almost from the moment of its publication in 1863, Nikolai Chernyshevsky\'s novel, What Is to Be Done? , had a profound impact on the course of Russian literature and politics.
An introduction by Katz and Wagner places the novel in the context of nineteenth-century Russian social, political, and intellectual history and literature, and explores its importance for several generations of Russian radicals..
Wagner has provided full annotations to Chernyshevsky\'s allusions and references and to the, sources of his ideas, and has appended a critical bibliography.
William G.
Katz\'s readable and compelling translation is now the definitive unabridged English-language version, brilliantly capturing the extraordinary qualities of the original.
Michael R.
Lenin himself called Chernyshevsky the greatest and most talented representative of socialism before Marx; and the controversy surrounding What Is to Be Done? exacerbated the conflicts that eventually led to the Russian Revolution.
On the one hand, the novel\'s condemnation of moderate reform helped to bring about the irrevocable break between radical intellectuals and liberal reformers; on the other, Chernyshevsky\'s socialist vision polarized conservatives\' opposition to institutional reform.
The idealized image it offered of dedicated and self-sacrificing intellectuals transforming society by means of scientific knowledge served as a model of inspiration for Russia\'s revolutionary intelligentsia.
Almost from the moment of its publication in 1863, Nikolai Chernyshevsky\'s novel, What Is to Be Done? , had a profound impact on the course of Russian literature and politics
