Russian literature has always been inseparable from Russian history. D. S. Mirsky constantly keeps in mind the ever-colorful and ever-changing aspects of the one in discussing the other. Sound in judgment, luminescent, and exquisitely written, Mirsky's book is essential reading for anyone interested in one of the world's great literatures. A History of Russian Literature covers the beginning of Russian fiction, the Age of Classicism, the Age of Gogol, and the poets, journalists, novelists, and playwrights of the Age of Realism.

D.S. Mirsky is the English pen name of Dmitry Petrovich Svyatopolk-Mirsky, often known as Prince Mirsky  (1890 – 1939), a Russian political and literary historian who promoted the knowledge and translations of Russian literature in Britain and of English literature in the Soviet Union.