Vividly imagining the second coming and capture of Christ during the time of the Spanish Inquisition, this parable recounted in The Brothers Karamazov is a profound, nuanced exploration of faith, suffering, human nature and free will. Included here too are Dostoyevsky's powerful and disturbing writings about his time in exile at a Siberian prison camp. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves — and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives — and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.

«Notes from Underground» (1864) is a study of a single character, 'the real man of the Russian majority', and a revelation of Dostoyevsky's own deepest beliefs. One of his best critics has said of the first part that it forms his 'most utterly naked pages. Never after wards was he so fully and openly to reveal the inmost recesses, unmeant for display, of his heart'. «The Double» (1846) is the nightmarish story of Mr Golyadkin, a man who is haunted or possessed by his own double. Is 'Mr Golyadkin junior' really a double or simply a fearful side of his own nature? This uncertainty is what gives urgency and horror to a tale which may be read as a classic study of human breakdown.»

Raskolnikoff, a young student, has been forced to give up his university studies because of lack of money. He withdraws from society and, poor and lonely, he develops a plan to murder a greedy old moneylender. Surely the murder of one worthless old woman would be excused, even approved of, if it made possible a thousand good deeds? But this crime is just the beginning of the story...

The stories in this volume demonstrate Dostoyevsky's genius for fusing caricature, irony and the grotesque to create a powerful dark humour. Jessie Coulson's introduction examines the personal and financial dramas that influenced Dostoyevsky.

From the author of Crime and Punishment comes this remarkable collection of short fiction.Ten compelling tales, steeped in Dostoyevsky's characteristic themes of spiritual torment and psychological conflict, evoke life in Czarist Russia. Featured stories include Dream of a Ridiculous Man, The Honest Thief, A Gentil Creature, and the title work.

This novel brought its 24-year-old author critical and public acclaim nearly overnight. Written in the form of letters, it recounts a blossoming romance amid St. Petersburg's slums between a middle-aged writer and a much younger seamstress. Compact and easy to read, it represents an excellent introduction to Dostoyevsky's work.