My Past and Thoughts

My Past and Thoughts (Russian: Былое и думы, translit. Byloye i dumy) is an extensive autobiography by Alexander Hertzen, which he started in early 1850s and continued to expand and revise throughout his later life. Serialized in Polyarnaya Zvezda, the book in its full form came out as a separate edition after its author's death. In Hertzen's lifetime the major parts of the book were translated into English (1855), German (1855) and French (1860-1862). Providing the panoramic view on the social and political life in Russian Empire as well as the European West of the mid-19th century, this seminal, even if in many ways controversial work is considered to be the classic of Russian memoirist literature.