The treatise captivated writer Leo Tolstoy, who began a long correspondence with Bondarev and endeavored for years to see the work published.

In particular, Bondarev explicates the theory of "bread-labor", arguing that all men, regardless of social position, are morally obligated to perform the physical labor necessary to sustain themselves.

According to Bondarev, social inequality, exploitation, and strife are the product of society's failure to adhere to the principal of bread-labor, which he regards as an inexorable moral and religious imperative.

[2][3] Published versions of the text also generally include an essay by Leo Tolstoy, sometimes known as "Industry and Idleness", which introduces and elaborates upon the work and its ideas.

The culmination of his life's work was his treatise The Triumph of the Farmer or Industry and Parasitism, which he composed primarily in the late 1870s and early 1880s.

Later in 1888, the weekly Russkoye Delo (The Russian Cause) published an abbreviated version edited by Tolstoy, who also provided a supplementary essay, in issues 12 and 13.