A Journey From Saint Petersburg To Moscow

Primarily an attack on serfdom and an appeal to the serfs voluntarily, Aleksandr Radishchv's Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow has often been described as a Russian Uncle Tom's Cabin. Published in 1790, the book was banned immediately and the author first sentenced to death, then banished to eastern Siberia. On the order of the Empress Catherine II, who read the Journey very carefully, all copies that could be found were collected and burned. The few that escaped were widely circulated and laboriously copied out by hand, but the book was not freely published in Russia until 1905.

Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow is among the most important pieces of writing to come out of Russia in the age of Catherine the Great. Alexander Radishchev's account of a fictional journey blends literature, philosophy, and political economy to expose social and economic injustices and their causes at all levels of Russian society.

Primarily an attack on serfdom and an appeal to the serfs voluntarily, Aleksandr Radishchv's Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow has often been described as a Russian Uncle Tom's Cabin. Published in 1790, the book was banned immediately and the author first sentenced to death, then banished to eastern Siberia. On the order of the Empress Catherine II, who read the Journey very carefully, all copies that could be found were collected and burned. The few that escaped were widely circulated and laboriously copied out by hand, but the book was not freely published in Russia until 1905.

Excerpt from Russia and the Russians: Or, a Journey to St. Petersburg and Moscow, Through Courland and Livonia; With Characteristic Sketches of the People When the author undertook to travel in Russia, - a country about which so many conflicting opinions have been published, - he thought he would best consult the advantage of the public by making his book a work entirely of information, and allowing whatever amusement it might contain to depend upon the nature of the facts communicated. It was with this idea he set out upon the journey, and he soon found reason to congratulate himself upon his decision. He has not indulged either in theory or controversy. He has given a plain account of what he saw with his own eyes, and heard with his own ears; and however much the narrative may in some parts be condemned by former travellers and their admirers, he is conscious that it will one day receive credit for its truth. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.