Written with the same warmth, liveliness and ability to re-create reality that made Stanislavski a great actor, his autobiography tells of his childhood in the world of Moscow's wealthy merchants, his successes and failures as an amateur actor, how he studied human beings, and developed what has come to be known as the Stanislavski Method, how his group of dedicated amateurs became perhaps the greatest acting group the world has ever known (Washington Post), The Moscow Art Theatre.

    Chapter I Old Russia; Chapter II Family Life; Chapter III Struggles with Obstinacy; Chapter IV Value of Childish Impressions; Chapter V Play Days; Chapter VI Our Home Theatre; Chapter VII A Suddenly Discovered Talent; Chapter VIII Russian Dramatic Schools; Chapter IX The Little Theatre; Chapter X The Conservatory; Chapter XI Anton Rubinstein; Chapter XII Attempts in Operettas; Chapter XIII The Opera; Chapter XIV The Mamontov Circle; Chapter XV The Society of Art and Literature; Chapter XVI Fundamentals of Art Material; Chapter XVII Marriage; Chapter XVIII Character Part s; Chapter XIX Genius of Director Kronek; Chapter XX First Experience as a Director; Chapter XXI Lev Tolstoy; Chapter XXII “Uriel Acosta”; Chapter XXIII “The Polish Jew”; Chapter XXIV The Professional Theatre; Chapter XXV New Stage Effects; Chapter XXVI Tommaso Salvini the Elder; Chapter XXVII Othello; Chapter XXVIII Meeting with Nemirovich-Danchenko; Chapter XXIX My Summer in Pushkino; Chapter XXX The Founding of the Moscow Art Theatre; Chapter XXXI The Productions of the Moscow Art Theatre; Chapter XXXII The Line of the Fantastic; Chapter XXXIII Symbolism and Impressionism; Chapter XXXIV “The Seagull”; Chapter XXXV “Uncle Vanya”; Chapter XXXVI The Journey to the Crimea in 1900; Chapter XXXVII “The Three Sisters”; Chapter XXXVIII The First Journey to Petrograd; Chapter XXXIX Journeys to the Provinces; Chapter XL The Line of Social and Political Moods; Chapter XLI “The Power of Darkness” and “The Enemy of the People”; Chapter XLII “Julius Cæsar”; Chapter XLIII The Last Year with Chekhov; Chapter XLIV “The Cherry Orchard”; Chapter XLV The Studio on Povarskaya; Chapter XLVI Our First Journey Abroad; Chapter XLVII The Cabbage Part ies; Chapter XLVIII The Beginnings of My System; Chapter XLIX Leopold Sulerjitsky; Chapter L “The Drama of Life”; Chapter LI Disappointments; Chapter LII “The Life of Man”; Chapter LIII A Visit to Maeterlinck; Chapter LIV Isadora Duncan and Gordon Craig; Chapter LV The First Studio; Chapter LVI The Founding of the First Studio; Chapter LVII “A Month in the Country”; Chapter LVIII The War; Chapter LIX The Second Revolution; Chapter LX The Opera Studio; Chapter LXI My Life in Art;

    Biography

    Constantin Stanislavski

    "A great figure upon the world scene, one of the greatest men of the theatre that ever lived." -- N.Y. Herald-Tribune
    "This wise and delightful book...is packed with sage practical counsel to actors and actresses." -- The Times Literary Supplement (London)
    "It was a source of great enlightenment to me." -- Sir Laurence Olivier