"… Throughout the entire week, as I was reading the book, I had the feeling as though I had spent that week in Mikhailovskoye, seen Pushkin alive, seen all the people around him," wrote Vikenty Veresaev, author of the famous biographical chronicle "Pushkin in Life," about the book by Ivan Novikov (1877–1959), written in the middle of the last century and enjoying great popularity.
"Pushkin in Mikhailovskoye" (the first part of the dilogy). Written in 1934–1936, published in 1936 — for the centenary of the poet’s death.
"Pushkin in the South" (the second part of the dilogy). Created in 1936–1941, completed in 1943, when Novikov was in evacuation in Kamensk-Ural'sky.