Follows the fates of five interrelated families--American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh--as they move through the dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage.

Profiles the people of a small Midwestern town in the early 1900s, revealing the consequences of human misunderstanding. This short story cycle is structured around the life of protagonist George Willard from the time he was a child to his growing independence and ultimate abandonment of Winesburg as a young man; the style of the work progresses as the complexity of his life increases.