File On Gorky

Maxim Gorky was born Alexei Maximovich Peshkov in Nizhny Novgorod, 225 miles east of Moscow, in 1868. By 1878 both his parents were dead and he spent his youth as a nomadic labourer. In 1898 his collection of Stories and Sketches was published and proved an immediate success. His plays include The Lower Depths (1902), Summerfolk (1904), Children of the Sun (1905), Barbarians and Enemies (1906) and Yegor Bulichev (1932). His other books include Childhood and My Universities and the novel The Mother. A socialist from his early days, he never joined the Communist Party. He offered qualified support to the Soviet state after 1918, living abroad from 1924 to 1932. In 1934 he became head of the Writers' Union but his work showed an increasing awareness that something had gone wrong with the revolution. He died in 1936.

• Part 1 A brief chronology. Part 2 The plays: "Philistines"; "The Lower Depths", "Summerfolk"; "Children of the Sun"; "Barbarians"; "Enemies"; "The Last Ones"; "Eccentrics"; "The Reception"; "Vassa Zheleznova" (first version); "Counterfeit Coin"; "The Zykovs"; "The Old Man"; "Egor Bulychev and the Others"; "Dostigaev and the Others"' "Vassa Zheleznova" (second version); "Workaholic Slovotekov"; "Somov and the Others"; "Iakov Bogomolov". Part 3 Non-dramatic writing.