*This novel, k nown as one of the masterpieces of Russian Literature, under the t it le *A Hero of our Time,* and a lready t ranslated into at least nine European languages, is now for the f i rst t ime placed before the genera l Eng l ish Reader. The work is of except iona l interest to the student of Eng l ish Literature, wr it ten as it was under the profound inf luence of By ron and being itself a study of the By ronic t y pe of cha racter.
The Translators have ta ken especia l ca re to preser ve both the atmosphere of the stor y and the poet ic beaut y with which the Poet-novel ist imbued his pages.*