This book is a vivid account of life in Moscow, "the most Russian of
Russian cities," in the year 1903, a year before Russia's disastrous war
with Japan and two years before the momentous Revolution of 1905. Though
the undercurrents of social change were running swiftly, the surface
stability of the Tsarist regime show no indication of the turmoil ahead.
The author, who is perhaps best known for his biography Tolstoy,
describes Russian life through the eyes of a fictional young Englishman
visiting a prosperous Russian merchant family. All facets of Moscow life
are covered, from entertainment and night life to family life and the
devotions of the Orthodox. We learn about Russia's factory workers and
peasants, its soldiers and lawyers, its priests and its city officials,
its Tsar and his entourage: what they do and what they wear, what they
think and what they dream. Concluding chapters take our visitor to the
famous fair at Nizhny-Novgorod, which was held every year from July 15
to September 10, and on a boat trip down the Volga.