Russian literature's first major prose novel, this gripping work was a primary influence on Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, and other great 19th-century writers. The author drew upon his personal Byronic exploits to create these picaresque adventures amid the rugged Caucasus in the company of bandits, freebooters, and beautiful women.

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov (October 15 [O.S. October 3] 1814 – July 27 [O.S. July 15] 1841), a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, the most important Russian poet after Alexander Pushkin's death in 1837 and the greatest figure in Russian Romanticism. His influence on later Russian literature is still felt in modern times, not only through his poetry, but also through his prose, which founded the tradition of the Russian psychological novel.