A chronicle of the history of the conventional Russian town of Foolov and the reign of grotesque, disgusting and frightening mayors. Foolov searches for a prince, suffers from mechanical cries of "I will not tolerate" and "I will ruin", bakes pies according to regulations, experiences a period of idolatry, turns into a barracks, burns, starves and drowns. The History of a Town is often seen as a fantastic satire on Russian history, but there is another meaning hidden behind this: Shchedrin's book is about the "inevitable Russian", about the ahistorical, fatal features of the national mentality. Beginning as a farce, by the end of the History of a Town it reaches the scope of an eschatological dystopia.