作为共产主义国家最著名的"革命小说"之一，《钢铁是怎样炼成的》是由病痛中的作者，以口述的方式，历时约6年创作完成的。它讲述了主人公保尔•柯察金从一个不懂事的少年到成为一个忠于革命的布尔什维克战士，再到双目失明却坚强不屈创作小说，在斗争中百炼成钢的故事。其作者尼古拉•奥斯特洛夫斯基，是全世界闻名的无产阶级作家，该作品发表时他只有二十五六岁，并获得了列宁勋章。

小说赞扬了在绝望的命运中仍坚强不屈，向命运挑战的精神，鞭鞑了那些只会作威作福的资本家与资本主义社会的丑陋，表现出了作者所代表的当时无产阶级对受压迫命运的抗争精神。也告诉人们，一个人只有在革命的艰难困苦中战胜敌人也战胜自己，只有在把自己的追求和祖国、人民的利益联系在一起的时候，才会创造出奇迹。

1942年，第一版《钢铁是怎样炼成的》的中译本，让无数中国读者痴迷于曲折离奇的故事情节，感召在保尔强大的精神力量之中。在新中国，"保尔"这个名字同杨靖宇、邱少云、雷锋、王进喜一样，受到一代又一代青年的崇敬和爱戴，激励着无数人为了新国家的建设而勇往直前。失去了左眼、左手、右腿的兵工研究员吴运铎，还有身残志坚的残疾人作家张海迪，他们都被称为"中国的保尔"。

不可否认，"保尔精神"具有鲜明的时代烙印，如今，保尔艰苦抗战的沧桑岁月，已经在世界和平的大格局下离我们越来越远。随着时代的发展，中国也在改革开放中迈入现代化建设的新时期。然而，"保尔精神"的精髓——为人类的进步和解放而无私奉献的精神，却仍旧是新一代国人实现中华民族腾飞、自我人生价值的不竭动力。

该书为我国中小学语文课堂必荐读物，为了使青少年读者能够更好地理解这部小说，本书在全新翻译的基础上重新润色。在语言风格上，保持原著的朴实与简练，多用贴进青少年的词汇和复句句式；在结构上，强化了铺垫行叙述，使保尔的故事更加引人入胜；在内容上，对时代背景复杂的事件，多着笔墨解说，对庞杂的枝干情节，简明扼要地叙述。

(As one of the most famous "revolution" novel in the communist country, The Making of Steel is completed by the author in pain in the form of oral creation, and lasts about 6 years. It tells the story of the protagonist Pavel Korchagin, from an ignorant young man to a loyal Bolshevik revolution warrior, and then becoming blind but striving to write novels, and finally being hardened into steel in the struggle. Its author, Nicola Ostrovsky, is a famous proletarian writer all over the world. He was only 25 or 26 years old when the work was published, and received the Order of Lenin.

This novel praises the spirit of being firm and inflexible in desperate fate and challenging the fate. It whipps the capitalists who can only domineer and apparent ugliness in a capitalist society. It shows the proletariat's struggling spirit against the oppressed that the authors represent. It also tells people that one person can only defeat the enemy in the revolution of hardship and overcome himself. He can only create miracle by combining his own pursuit with the national and people's interest.

In 1942, the first Chinese edition of The Making of Steel let numerous Chinese readers being attracted by the bizarre plots, and obsessed with Pavel's strong spiritual power. In the new China, the name "Pavel", like Yang Jingyu, Qiu Shaoyun, Lei Feng, and Wang Jinxi, is respected and admired by generation to generation's youth, inspiring millions of people for the construction of the new country. The armaments factories researcher Wu Yunduo, who lost his left eye, left hand and right leg, and disabled writer Zhang Haidi with strong spirit, are called "Pavel" in China.

It is no denying that "Pavel's spirit" has a distinctive brand of the Time. Nowadays, Pavel's hard years of resisting wars has been farther and farther from us in the peace circumstance in the world. With the development of the era, China has also entered the modernization in the new period of reform and opening-up. However, the essence of "Pavel's spirit"- the spirit of selfless contribution to the progress of human revolution and liberation is still he inexhaustible driving force for new Chinese generation to realize the take-off of the Chinese nation and the self value of life.

It is recommended reading material for middle and primary school students. In order to make the young readers to better understand the novel, the book, on the basis of the new translation, polishes again. In the language style, it keeps the original's simple and concise, and posts vocabulary and sentence patterns that are close to teenagers; In the structure, it strengthens the bedding line, and makes the story of Pavel more attractive; In content, it gives more explanation to the time background with complex events, and briefly describes the vast branches plot. )