Reading Russian revolutionary culture through its stories, author Susan Morrissey examines how the quest for consciousness evolved into a master-plot of student radicalism. Based on interdisciplinary sources and extensive research in Russian archives, this study throws new light on the dynamics of political and cultural change in late Imperial Russia and poses provocative questions about the pre-revolutionary antecedents of the founding myths of the Soviet Union. This work will appeal to historians of Russia and the Soviet Union, as well as specialists in Slavic culture and literature.