The book tells how, on the eve of the first Russian revolution, under the leadership of the Leninist party, the democratic intelligentsia of Russia fought against the autocracy. Attracting extensive material, the author cites interesting data on the creation of illegal unions of teachers, artists, lawyers and statisticians, on strikes of doctors, pharmacists, employees of zemstvo institutions and clerks, on the revolutionary activities of Moscow Art Theater artists, anti-government sentiments of scientists, on political demonstrations and strikes of students and students of educational institutions.