Arkady returns to his Russian provincial home after graduation, taking with him his friend Bazarov, and there ensues a clash between generations points of view.

Fathers and Sons is a masterpiece of realism dealing with the universal theme of conflict between parents and children. Bazarov, Turgenev's protagonist, is one of the first and best of the literary angry young men and the book created a considerable furore when it was first published, dislike as it was by those on both the left and right of Russian politics.