There are books in every language that are landmarks, even turning-points in the history of the literature in that language. Such a book for Russians is Maxim Gorky’s Mother, for though it was written ten years before the establishment of Soviet power in Russia, we count it the first stone laid in the foundations of Soviet literature.

Mother was first published in Russia in 1907. When Gorky wrote it he was a mature craftsman, fully aware of his historical mission.