Aleksandr Serafimovich is a well-known Russian and Soviet writer whose novel Zheleznyi potok (1924; translated as The Iron Flood, 1935) is considered one of the canonical works of Soviet literature. Prior to the 1917 Revolution, Serafimovich met Maksim Gor'ky and published his works in Gor'ky's periodical Znanie (Knowledge). From the 1880s Serafimovich was involved in revolutionary activities. His first stories appeared in the 1880s and 1890s, and they were warmly received by Gleb Ivanovich Uspensky and Vladimir Galaktionovich Korolenko, while his 1908 short story "Peski" (translated as "Sands," 1956) was highly praised by Leo Tolstoy. Serafimovich's aspirations stood close to the ideas of the democratic literary tradition of the 1860-1870s. His first novel, Gorod v stepi (City in the Steppe, 1912), depicts in a realistic vein the construction of the first railroad in Russia. The novel epitomizes the historical overview of industrial development in Russia, with its Marxist stance evident in Serafimovich's description...