Editing Irkutsk (section)

===Literature===
Irkutsk plays a crucial role in Jules Verne’s 1876 novel ''Michael Strogoff''. In the novel Strogoff is the heroic courier of the Czar Alexander II entrusted with delivering a critical dispatch to the Czar’s brother in Irkutsk with vital information about a rebellion brewing in Siberia. Irkutsk was home to Russian writer [[Valentin Rasputin]]; many of his novels and stories take place in the [[Angara River|Angara]] Valley. An essay on the cultural history of Irkutsk (and another one about the nearby Lake Baikal) is included in Rasputin's non-fiction collection [[Siberia, Siberia]], which is also available in an English translation. Irkutsk also figures prominently in descriptions by foreign travelers, including the so-called British "Blind Traveler" [[James Holman]], who was suspected of spying and conducted back forcibly to the frontiers of [[Poland]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}
<ref>Michael Strogoff by Jules Verne, Charles Scribner's and Sons, 1927 </ref>