N.S. Leskov is a Russian writer and publicist, whose artistic talent was most clearly manifested in his stories and novels. It was in them, and not in novels, that Leskov managed to create a broad picture of Russian life and images of amazing, original heroes. The book includes the best works of the writer about the tragic fates of talented people from the people: “The Stupid Artist”, “Lefty”, “The Enchanted Wanderer” , as well as the story “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” - the story of the rebellion of a woman’s soul against the deadening environment of the merchant environment, the story of an all-consuming, insane passion, for the sake of which the heroine is ready to do anything, even murder...