At a historical turning point (to the 200th anniversary of the birth of B. M. Markevich)

The article examines the journalistic and literary activity of B. M. Markevich, his socio-political position. The materials of his epistolary polemic with A. K. Tolstoy on the internal policy of the Russian Empire are presented and commented on. His attitude to the Russian liberal intelligentsia and to the revolutionary movement of 1850-1870 is shown. The reflection of this era in Markevich’s novels “Perelom” and “Bezdna” is considered, the real prototypes of the heroes of these works are indicated.