Dead Souls

By Gogol Nikolai Vasilevich

Dead Souls is a novel by Nikolai Gogol about a con man who attempts to swindle a number of landowners out of their landholdings. He travels around the countryside in search of gullible and desperate men who are willing to part with their assets for his offers of quick and easy money. The novel is a satirical critique of Russian landed gentry and society of the time.