Synopses & Reviews
A superb new translation of Dostoyevsky's chilling and prophetic novel of revolutionary fanaticism
Pyotr and Stavrogin are the leaders of a Russian revolutionary cell. Their aim is to overthrow the Tsar, destroy society, and seize power for themselves. Together they train terrorists who are willing to lay down their lives to accomplish their goals. But when the group is threatened with exposure, will their recruits be willing to kill one of their own to cover their tracks? Savage and powerful yet lively and often comic, Demons was inspired by a real-life political murder and is a scathing and eerily prescient indictment of those who use violence to serve their beliefs.
Synopsis
'The most innovative and challenging writer of fiction in his generation in Russia' Guardian
Based on a real-life crime which horrified Russia in 1869, Dostoevsky intended his novel to castigate the fanaticism of his country's new political reformers, particularly those known as Nihilists. Blackly funny, grotesque and shocking, Demons is a disturbing portrait of five young men saturated in ideology and bent on destruction, and a compelling study of terrorism.
'Marvellous...a fluid and well-paced translation' Observer