Its political stance was to oppose nationalism and the First World War.
Officially A. F. Radzishevsky was the editor but in practice Maxim Gorky edited the journal.
[1] Under the Tsarist regime Letopis was continually censored for an anti-war stance.
Nikolai Sukhanov, described how the editors used to meet in Gorky's flat, in particular during the February Revolution: Many of the contributors were involved in the Free Association for the Development and Dissemination of Positive Science (SARRPN) after it was founded in March 1917.
[1] Letopis attracted a large range of notable contributors:[1]