The present memoirs of Alexander V. Amfiteatrov, a well-known journalist and prose-writer (1862–1938), were published in a German newspaper in the 1920s, yet they have never come out as a book. The author remembers newspaper editorial offices, opera houses, the big fair in Nizhny Novgorod as well as the famous people he had met in his long life (Chekhov, Suvorin, Doroshevich, Savva Morozov, tsar Nikolai II and others).

The present memoirs of Alexander V. Amfiteatrov, a well-known journalist and prose-writer (1862–1938), were published in a German newspaper in the 1920s, yet they have never come out as a book. The author remembers newspaper editorial offices, opera houses, the big fair in Nizhny Novgorod as well as the famous people he had met in his long life (Chekhov, Suvorin, Doroshevich, Savva Morozov, tsar Nikolai II and others).

Describing his impressions of Saint Petersburg and Moscow to a novellist friend, the French poet and playwright was paying particular attention to the Russian literature and theatre worlds as well as to the everyday life of both upper and lower classes. This correspondence was first published in Paris a year later, became widely read and aroused heated debates in the Russian literary circles. The present edition is the first ever Russian translation of the book.

The detailed and well-commented reminiscences collected here give the reader a fairly full impression of the life and activities of Alexander I’s all-mighty vizier. The book also contains a number of eulogistic and satirical poems dealing with Arakcheyev.

Both the instructive and literary qualities of this book, which has never been published before, make it equal to the best of Russian memoirs. The author's searching and tenacious eye takes in and commits to memory first a Siberian landowner's estate and the boarding school for noble children at Moscow University, then the University proper in the 1820s, the Moscow theatre of the next decade, law-courts and legal proceedings of the period as well as the literary life of the 1820s-1840s.

This is the first ever edition containing the memoirs of Vlas Doroshevich (1865 – 1922) in a single book. Known as the ‘king of Russian journalism’, Doroshevich left vivid, humorous accounts of late 19th century Moscow life. We are regaled with tales of entrepreneurs, politicians, academics, actors, criminals, writers and journalists. When writing about himself, Doroshevsky is no less amusing. We learn of his studies in a gymnaziya college, his attempts to become an actor, his first experiences as a journalist. The turn of the century brought many changes in journalism, and Doroshevich was well aware of the educational potential of journalistic features and articles. He strives to ‘do the tiniest of things for a good cause, to shed light on just a wee corner of the darkness, …to offer good advice at the right time, to help rid readers of delusions.’ Doroshevich’s memoirs mainly consist of sketches and essays on people and events, published by various periodicals. A fascinating account of turn-of-the-century life, these memoirs also offer a valuable insight into the new Russian journalism.

Major-general Engelgardt describes his childhood and education, his service under Prince Potemkin (who was a distant relation), the everyday life of the royal court in the 1780s, the Russian-Turkish war of 1787–1791, the suppression of the Polish uprising in 1794, army discipline under Paul I, and so on. In the course of his account Engelgardt also gives vivid portraits of some statesmen and military figures such as Pyotr Rumyantsev, Alexander Suvorov and others.

It is hardly a well-known fact that by the end of his life A.A. Fet became one of the wealthiest Russian writers. In 1860 he bought Stepanovka, a small estate in the Orel Province, and started his «farming» life there (subsequently continued on another estate). Although hugely successful at the end, Fet experienced all the «pleasures» of Russian economic life. From 1862–1871 he published a series of essays in various magazines describing his agricultural pursuits; these essays combine the elements of memoirs, poetic observations, and reflections on the essence of «Russian soul». This is the first time they are brought together under one cover; this volume also includes Fet’s poems written in Stepanovka.

Friedrich Fidler (1859 – 1917) was one of the most important figures on the St. Petersburg literary scene between the 1880s and 1910s. The diaries of this colourful personage have never before been published in Russian. Well-known in Germany as well as Russia, Fidler was acquainted and corresponded with many famous writers and cultural figures. At home, he received a steady stream of visitors, who wished to peruse his unique collection of books. Fidler translated into German, and published in Germany a wide range of works by classical and contemporary Russian poets. The diaries of this remarkable man overflow with fascinating facts and events from the world of Russian literature. Scores of acclaimed and lesser-known hommes de letters figure on these pages, which constitute no less than a monument to the literary world of that time, in all its variety, brightness and contradiction.

Apart from giving a graphic picture of landowners' and provincial life of the early 19th c., this highly-esteemed man of letters and teacher describes Moscow University and the stage milieu of the 1820's as well as Moscow of the 1830–1840's with such literary and cultural celebrities as Nikolai Gogol, Vissarion Belinsky, Mikhail Pogodin, Mikhail Katkov, Ivan Turgenev, Apollon Grigoryev, and others. The expressive language, vivid descriptions and psychologically precise characterization make Galakhov's memoirs not only a valuable source of information but also a fine piece of literature.