“By the late 1840s, anticipation of a better life and the concept of 'progress' had become an American touchstone, a national expectation.” ProgressAmerican DreamBetter Life1840s Book:The Reluctant Spiritualist: A Life of Maggie Fox Source: The Reluctant Spiritualist: A Life of Maggie Fox
“Russian realism was born in the second half of the forties. ... In substance it is a cross between the satirical naturalism of Gogol and an older sentimentalism revived and represented in the thirties and forties by the then enormously influential George Sand. Gogol and George Sand were the father and mother of Russian realism and its accepted masters during the initial stages.” Nineteenth CenturyGeorge Sand1800s1840s1830sRussian Realism Book:A History of Russian Literature: From Its Beginnings to 1900 Source: A History of Russian Literature: From Its Beginnings to 1900