Ivan Turgenev was for several decades in the 19th century the most well-know Russian author in western Europe. Although considered a ‘mild-mannered giant’, his works exposed the evils of 19th-century Russian society, causing alarm and suspicion in Russian government circles. Indeed, Tsar Alexander II acknowledge that Turgenev’s works influenced his decision to abolish serfdom in 1861.

No previous familiarity with Turgenev’s works is assumed.