This lectures explores the main themes of Russian literature and history as they were experienced in the 19th-century. Providing an analysis of works from major authors, such as Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Chekhov, the lecture will consider the unique contribution that Russian literature of this period has left as its legacy. The themes of gentry life, urbanisation, revolutionary utopia, and dystopia will also be examined as well as their lasting contribution to the new era ushered in by the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.