Introduction

The Captain's Daughter is the only novel Pushkin completed, set against the peasant rebellion led by Pugachev in the 1770s. The young noble officer Grinyov is sent by his father to serve in a remote fortress on the steppe, where he falls in love with Masha, daughter of the commandant, Captain Mironov. Pugachev's rebels take the fortress and the captain and his wife are executed, but Grinyov is spared by Pugachev because he once gave a hareskin coat to a stranger who guided him through a blizzard; the guide was Pugachev himself. Written in clear and simple language, the novel is regarded as a model of Russian prose: 'Guard your honour from your youth.' This volume also includes Pushkin's most famous lyrics, among them 'To Chaadaev', 'To Kern', 'If life deceives you', 'I loved you once' and 'The Monument'.