The Russian writer Maxim Gorky (1868-1936), who came from humble beginnings, is one of the great realists of early 20th-century Russian literature. The author, who was also politically engaged in the fight against the autocratic Tsarist government, primarily dealt with the petty bourgeoisie and the lower classes in his plays and novels. This anthology contains some of his best stories, including the longer novellas "Warenjka Ollessowa" and "Cain and Artem," as well as seven other texts, mostly from around 1900.