Back to the Library
The Medieval Church · c. 1113
The Tale of Bygone Years
Povest' vremennykh let
Attributed to Nestor the Chronicler · c. 1056–c. 1114
Read elsewhere
What it is
The history of the Rus from the flood to 1110, including the envoys sent to compare religions who reported that in Constantinople they did not know whether they were in heaven or on earth.
Why it lasted
The founding text of Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian history, and the source of everything known about the conversion of the Rus.
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
Read next