The first of Chekhov´s works to be published in a serious literary journal, `The Steppe´, with its masterly account of a spectacular thunderstorm, signifies his maturation as a writer of short stories. While the majority of his tales focus on the privileged classes, this selection shows that Chekhov never forgot his origins as the son of a failed provincial grocer, and characters as varied as the brutal soldier in `Gusev´, the downtrodden old constable in `On Official Business´, and the bemused peasants in `New Villa´ testify to the power and flexibility of his art.