The History of a Town

The History of a Town

First edition
Author	Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin
Original title	Исторiя одного города
Country	Russia
Language	Russian
Genre	Satirical novel, political novel
Publisher	Otechestvennye Zapiski
Publication date	1870

The History of a Town (pre-reform Russian: Исторiя одного города; post-reform Russian: История одного города, romanized: Istoriya odnogo goroda), also translated as Foolsburg: The History of a Town, is a 1870 novel by Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin. The plot presents the history of the town of Glupov, which may be translated as the "town of fools", a grotesque microcosm of the Russian Empire. Written during the period of the "Great Reforms" in the 19th century Russia, it was neglected for a long time and rediscovered only in the 20th century.^[1] It is regarded by critics as the author's masterpiece and sometimes even compared to Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude.^[2]