A Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow (Puteshestvie iz Peterburga v Moskvu)

The fate of A. N. Radishchev's crown jewel, Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow (1789), is truly astonishing. The author printed this censor-unfavorable work at home on his own press, purchased specifically for this purpose, but on the eve of his arrest, he burned almost the entire print run. Journey continued to exist in copies until 1858, when it was published abroad by A. I. Herzen. In Russia, the censorship ban on the work was lifted only at the beginning of the 20th century. Even during the Soviet era, when Radishchev was declared a 'prophet and forerunner of the revolution,' Journey was published with cuts—many things in it perplexed the authorities. Perhaps today's reader will be able to approach this extremely complex work with an open mind and find in it not only harsh prose, but also poetry.