Who was the author of How Steel Was Tempered? The author of How Steel Was Tempered was Ostrovsky of the Soviet Union. The novel was first published in 1932 and is a classic in Soviet literature and one of the most important works in the history of world literature. The novel tells the story of a poor peasant's son growing up into a strong warrior and a builder of society in the midst of the revolution. It profoundly reflects the contradictions and complexity of the Soviet society and human nature, and is known as the "autobiography of the steel workers."