Anton Chekhov’s stories and plays endure as outstanding modern literary works, and his life was no less dramatic, rising from poor beginnings to become a writer, physician and philanthropist.

In this new biography Michael C. Finke analyses Chekhov’s major stories, plays, and non-fiction in the context of his life, fleshing out the key features of Chekhov’s poetics of prose and drama, and revealing key continuities across genres as well as between the lesser-known early writings and the later works.

An excellent resource for readers new to Chekhov, this book also presents much material new to scholarship, and is an accessible, comprehensive overview of one of the greatest writers of short fiction in history.