A classic held as one of the greatest works of 19th Century fiction. The novel is thought of as a reply to the growing cultural divide and alienation between liberals of the 1830s/1840s and the rapidly growing nihilist movement. These two philosophies were contrasted with the conservative Slavophiles, who believed that Russia's greatness lay in its traditional spirituality... The main characters reflect a youthful rebellious and anarchistic thought, therefore confronted with their traditional fathers. The character of Bazarov, nasty and anarchistic, remains one of the great creations of the literary world.