The first of Chekhov's works to be published in a serious literary journal, 'The Steppe', with its masterly account of a spectacular thunderstorm, signifies his maturation as a writer of short stories. While the majority of his tales focus on the privileged classes, this selection shows that Chekhov never forgot his origins as the son of a failed provincial grocer, and characters as varied as the brutal soldier in 'Gusev', the downtrodden old constable in 'On Official Business', and the bemused peasants in 'New Villa' testify to the power and flexibility of his art.

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