In this international historical survey, the different varieties of realism are explained in their theoretical context, and categorized according to established definitions. The book is divided into three chronological sections. The first part, covering the years 1830-1917, describes the origins of the realist style in Europe and North America, the emergence of Naturalism, and the origins of socialist art. The second part (1917-1960) explains the different stages of socialist realism in the USSR...