“Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow” is Alexander Radishchev’s most famous book. In it, the narrator—a nameless nobleman of middle years—tells what he observes on his journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow. Before him unfold the grim and humiliating condition of peasants, the ignorance and inertia of officials, the helplessness of laws, and the injustice of courts; everywhere there are signs of bribery, disorder, and indifference to one’s work. Through the hero’s reflections, Radishchev speaks to the reader and, in effect, to those in power, persuading of the need for social reforms and improving the life of the people. The work met with broad public response, was banned, and circulated only secretly in handwritten copies. The final ban on its publication was lifted only after the revolutionary events of 1905.