About the book: 1973 / This is a story about a man who himself wrote books: about his revolutionary friends, about fearless, wonderful people. But he didn’t write anything about himself. Maybe he didn’t have time, or maybe he didn’t want to, didn’t consider it possible, since he was a very modest person... The story tells about the life, work and struggle of the wonderful Russian revolutionary and writer S. M. Stepnyak-Kravchinsky, about his friends and associates : Sofya Perovskaya, Stepan Khalturin, Vera Zasulich and others. They fought, made friends, and sometimes made tragic mistakes, but they passionately wanted to see their homeland free and happy. “Sharper than the Blade” is the second book by Igor Smolnikov about Russian revolutionaries of the late 19th century; the first was dedicated to German Lopatin and was published by our publishing house in 1965.