The inexperienced and impetuous young nobleman Pyotr Grinyev is sent on military service in a remote fortress, where he falls in love with Masha, Captain Mironov's daughter — but then the ruthless Cossack Pugachev lays siege to the stronghold, setting in motion a tragic train of events. This volume also contains another work by Pushkin on the same theme, The History of the Pugachev Rebellion, which presents an impartial, meticulously researched history of the revolt, and was condemned as being subversive on its publication. Together, these two works provide a fascinating insight into the character of the peasant who tried to overthrow an empress, written with the clarity and insight of Russia's greatest poet.