Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow

About “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow”

Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow is a novel by Alexander Radishchev that primarily criticizes serfdom and urges serfs to act voluntarily. It has often been compared to Uncle Tom's Cabin for its anti-serfdom message. Published in 1790, the book was banned immediately, and the author was first sentenced to death, then exiled to eastern Siberia. Empress Catherine II, who read the work carefully, ordered all known copies to be collected and burned. Despite this, a few copies escaped and were copied by hand. The book was not published freely in Russia until 1905.