Semen Kanatchikov, born in a central Russian village in 1879, was one of the thousands of peasants who made the transition from traditional village life to the life of an urban factory worker in Moscow and St. Petersburg in the last years of the nineteenth century. Unlike the others, however, he recorded his personal and political experiences (up to the even of the 1905 Revolution) in an autobiography. First published in the Soviet Union in the 1920s, this memoir gives us the richest and most thoughtful firsthand account we have of life among the urban lower classes in Imperial Russia.

We follow this shy but determined peasant youth's painful metamorphosis into a self-educated, skilled patternmaker, his politicization in the factories and workers' circles of Moscow and St. Petersburg, and his close but troubled relations with members of the liberal and radical intelligentsia.

Kanatchikov was an exceptionally sensitive and honest observer, and we learn much from his memoirs about the day-to-day life of villagers and urban workers, including such personal matters as religious beliefs, family tensions, and male-female relationships. We also learn about conditions in the Russian prisons, exile life in the Russian Far North, and the Bolshevik-Menshevik split as seen from the workers' point of view.

Reviews
"This excellent translation of Kanatchikov's memoirs is a significant contribution to the field of Russian history and European labor history. The personal testimony of this extremely sensitive worker-revolutionary gives the reader a special 'feel' for the life of a Russian factory worker." -Ronald Grigor Suny ,The University of Michigan "Kanatchikov's autobiography tells us more about the social psychology of the Russian factory worker than any other source I know. It offers rare insights into the social and political conflicts that set the stage for the Russian revolution. It also tells a wonderful story." -Laura Engelstein ,Princeton University



Book Information
ISBN 9780804713313
Author Reginald E. Zelnik
Format Paperback
Page Count 508
Imprint Stanford University Press
Publisher Stanford University Press
Weight(grams) 612g