11 h 16 minAudiobook4 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
On Russia’s roads, hunger and cruelty live beside shared bread, strange stories and sudden dignity.
In Through Russia, Maxim Gorky draws on his years as a wanderer across the Russian empire. These short sketches bring you into villages, riverside towns, inns and shelters, among peasants, workers, vagrants, pilgrims and dreamers. There is no single plot to follow. Instead, each encounter brings another ordinary life into close, sometimes uncomfortable view.
Hardship presses on these people. Hunger, drink, quarrels and casual violence shape their days, but they do not tell the whole story. A stranger shares bread; a wanderer tells a moving tale; a poor man shows unexpected dignity. Against a background of war and mounting unrest before 1917, Gorky explores cruelty, patience and flashes of warmth without offering a political programme.
What you’ll discover
- Russia seen on foot Follow portraits drawn from Gorky’s own wandering, close to the people he meets.
- Lives under pressure Face hunger and everyday violence without a tidy picture to soften their force.
- Bread shared with strangers Find moments of kindness that make these rough places more than scenes of suffering.
- Voices along the road Meet workers, pilgrims and dreamers whose stories give the collection its varied human shape.
- A country before upheaval Explore ordinary lives in a Russia marked by war, unrest and the approach of change.
Who will love it
For readers who love short, human portraits of a place and time, and anyone curious about Russia before 1917, with its peasants, vagrants, pilgrims and dreamers.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A writer who learned Russia on foot
- Poverty and cruelty are everyday facts
- Kindness and wonder appear in rough places
- A nation on the edge of change
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 11 h 16 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 4 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Through Russia in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Through Russia
by Maxim Gorky
On the roads of the Russian empire, Gorky meets cruelty, kindness and a hunger for meaning.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then USD 0.14 a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
Through Russia is a collection of short sketches by Maksim Gorky, drawn from his years as a wanderer on the roads of the Russian empire. Gorky was born Alexei Peshkov, and he took a pen name that means bitter.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A writer who learned Russia on foot
Gorky did not study Russia from a desk. Orphaned young, he worked as a dishwasher, baker's helper and labourer, and in his twenties he travelled widely across the empire, often on foot. That life gave him a store of faces and voices, and these sketches draw on it.
The collection takes its shape from the road itself. One scene follows another, with a new person at each turn. The reader moves with the writer from place to place, much as a traveller does.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Through Russia
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Through Russia about?
It is a collection of short sketches by Maksim Gorky portraying ordinary Russians he met on his travels: peasants, vagrants, workers and dreamers, shown in their hardship, cruelty and moments of kindness.
Who wrote Through Russia and when?
Maksim Gorky wrote it. The sketches were composed in the years before the 1917 revolutions and draw on his earlier wanderings across the Russian empire as a young man.
Is Through Russia a true story?
It is a work of literature, not a strict memoir. The sketches are rooted in what Gorky saw and heard during his travels, but they are shaped as stories and portraits.
The author
Maxim Gorky
1868–1936 · Russian and Soviet novelist
Maksim Gorky (1868–1936) was a Russian and Soviet writer born in Nizhny Novgorod. His real name was Aleksey Maksimovich Peshkov. He wrote novels, stories and plays, including The Lower Depths (1902) and Mother (1906). He lived in Russia and Italy and died near Moscow.
More like this
Free
Free
Free
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
Popular in short stories
See all
Free
Free
Free
Free
