If anyone doubted the gloom and miserable poverty of Russia in the 1880s, the anarchist theorist Peter Kropotkin responded, "read only Chekhov's novels!" Raymond Tallis further recounts that Vladimir Lenin believed his reading of the short story Ward No.
Those who doubted the grim poverty of Russia in the 1880s were urged by Peter Kropotkin to read Chekhov's novels, while Raymond Tallis reports that Vladimir Lenin found solace and insight from a particular short story titled "Ward No."