Books by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821–1881) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and essayist universally acclaimed as one of the supreme masters of psychological and existential literature. Arrested in 1849 for participating in the utopian socialist Petrashevsky Circle, Dostoevsky faced a harrowing mock execution before enduring four years of brutal hard labor in Siberia followed by compulsory military service—experiences that profoundly deepened his spiritual faith and psychological insight into human suffering. In monumental masterpieces including Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Demons, and The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky explored the turbulent existential battleground of the human soul, probing themes of guilt, free will, nihilism, religious faith, and moral redemption. Through polyphonic dialogue and intense philosophical debates between contrasting worldviews, Dostoevsky anticipated the major psychological, existential, and political upheavals of the twentieth century, leaving an indelible imprint on figures from Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud to Franz Kafka and Albert Camus.