The History of a Town is a satirical chronicle by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, written in 1868-69 and published in 1870.
It related the story of a territory with a center in the town of Glupov. It is ruled by mayors, appointed and dismissed by a greater Russian state, the part of which the Glupov territory is implied to be (that state frequently remains anonymous though at times some historical figures are named and never does much more than appoint and dismiss the mayors). Most mayors are walking disasters for Glupov. Many of the mayors are grotesque characters based on some Russian emperors.
Tropes:
- Big Guy: Baklan, the sixth mayor, whose height was 235 centimeters.
- Death by Gluttony: That's how the eleventh mayor named Ferdyshenko died. No wonder as he liked baked ham and goose with cabbage.
- Devoured by the Horde: Lamvrokakis, an escaped Greek and the fifth mayor, who was a relatively kind ruler.
- Fearless Fool: Urus-Kugush-Kibaldiev who was extremely courageous and once took Glupov by storm. The unnamed central authority did not approve of this escapade and simply dismissed him.
- Head-Turning Beauty: Alyonka, the wife of Mitka, who attracts the attention of the Mayor Ferdyshenko. He is much older than Alyonka but has power to sent Mitka to Siberia. Subsequently the girl become his favourite. It does not end well.
- Humanoid Abomination:
- Brudasty had a music box in his head, in which only two phrases are recorded: "I won't tolerate" and "I will devastate". For some time he still rules Glupov unperturbed, until the music box is broken.
- The head of the mayor Prysh (meaning The Pimple) is actually stuffed by truffles. Local marshall of the nobility (the leader of the caste of nobles) incidentally discovers this and eats the head.
- Just Desserts: Ferapontov, the second Mayor, enjoyed public floggings so much that he never allowed to execute them in his absence. He was torn apart by wild dogs.
- Land of One City: In the territory ruled by the governors only the city of Glupov exists. The Russian state outside Glupov is implied to exist as it sends mayors to Glupov. However it does not show itself otherwise though some characters and events from wider Russian history are mentioned.
- Long List: The list of 22 mayors with a brief story. Only the selected few are treated in a particular chapter.
- Mayor Pain: The best mayors of Glupov were kind but incredibly stupid rulers. Most of them were totally incompetent sadists.
- Meaningful Name: The name of the town of Glupov(Глупов) is derived from an adjective Gloopy (глупый) which means simply "silly", "stupid", "foolish".
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Several mayors were liberally based on old tsars.
- One-Word Vocabulary: Brudasty has only two expressions: I won't tolerate and I'll devastate. These are the words recorded on the music box in his head.
- Power Floats: Marquis Sanglot was able to levitate. Once he nearly flew away but got hooked by the church spire. Soon he was dismissed.
- Shorter Means Smarter: Inverted in the case of Ivanov, the 17th mayor. He was very small in stature so he could not fit lengthy acts of legislation (within his body). In the end he burst trying to comprehend one more act of Senate.
- Sleeps with Both Eyes Open: Borodavkin always slept with one eye open and his wife of 25 years was still afraid of his permanently open eye.
- Ultimate Authority Mayor: This is the case in Glupov. Mayors have all the power at the territory. E.g. Borodavkin waged in the province so-called wars "for Enlightenment".
