It is universally acknowledged among Russians that Pushkin is as much their finest letter writer as he is their greatest and most beloved poet. The letters provide the best source of direct information about Pushkin as a man, as a litterateur and as a central figure in the Russian society of his day. They are included here substantially in their entirety - not only his letters in Russian, but also those in French, which constitute about a quarter of his whole epistolary.

Brilliantly translated by Professor J. Thomas Shaw and equipped with extensive notes and an introduction covering every aspect of the letters - personal, literary and social - as well as a detailed index, this monumental volume can be used as a kind of encyclopedia of Alexander Pushkin and his time.