The Medieval Church · c. 1113
The Tale of Bygone Years
Povest' vremennykh let
Attributed to Nestor the Chronicler · c. 1056–c. 1114
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
This work is in the public domain and can be read in full, free, at the archives below. The Library catalogues it; it does not host the text.
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.
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