The overriding social concern in this powerful novel, which was also published as The Devils, is nothing less than the fate of society. Early in the introductory chapter, the Narrator speaks of the situation in the unnamed provincial town that is the setting for the book: "At one time it was reported about the town that our little circle was a hotbed of Nihilism, profligacy, and godlessness, and the rumour gained more and more strength."

The report turns out to be true.

In 1869, Dostoevsky was working on notes and an outline for a projected novel entitled The Life of the Great Sinner. He was living in Europe at the time, and he read in a newspaper of the murder of a young revolutionary by his "comrades." The body was dumped in a pond in front of the Agricultural College, in Moscow. The murder was committed by...