Fathers and Sons

First published in 1862, this novel follows Arkady Kirsanov, just down from university, as he brings his friend Bazarov to the Kirsanov estate. Bazarov, a self-styled nihilist, scorns art, reform talk, and the older generation; Pavel Petrovich, Arkady's uncle, takes the insult personally. Visits to a neighbouring widow, Anna Odintsova, and to Bazarov's own parents test the creed of useful science against love and family. A duel and an illness close the action. Settings are provincial Russian houses and the road between them. The book is a realist novel of generations, not a tract.

Bound in quarter brown cloth with pale brown paper boards patterned in black and white. Dark orange endleaves. Blue slipcase.