Maksim Gorky

Aleksey Peshkov overcame indigence, violence, and suicidal despair to become Maksim Gorky, one of the most widely read and influential writers of the twentieth century. “Childhood”, the first book in Gorky's acclaimed autobiographical trilogy, depictshis early years, when after his father's death he was taken to live in the home of his maternal grandfather, a violent and vindictive man who both provided the child with a rudimentary education and...

"Inspired by real events and centering on the figure of Pelageya Vlasova and her son Pavel, Gorky's masterpiece describes the brutal life of ordinary Russian factory workers in the years leading to the 1905 Revolution and explores the rise of the proletariat, the role of women in society and the lower classes' struggle for self-affirmation."--Page 4 of cover.