Vasilii Sleptsov was a controversial figure held in high esteem by Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov, Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov, Leo Tolstoy, and Maksim Gor'ky and ridiculed, with almost equal ardor, by Nikolai Semenovich Leskov, Vsevolod Vladimirovich Krestovsky, and Nikolai Vasil'evich Uspensky. Such a sharp polarization of opinions with regard to his life and legacy might be attributed partially to Sleptsov's blatant revolutionary-democratic agenda. Yet, his personality was deemed interesting enough to serve as a prototype, friendly as well as unfriendly, in several works of fiction. The unpublished novel "Na maloi zemle" (On the Minor Land, 1880 to early 1930s), by Lidiia Nelidova, still remains an important biographical source on Sleptsov, who features in it under the name of Sviridov. Sleptsov's distinguished artistic talent is also beyond dispute. His knack for the accurate rendition of colloquial speech and his keen sense of humor, manifested in the short stories "Spevka" (The Rehearsal; published...