This abridged and revised annotated edition makes Dostoevsky's novel accessible to a new generation of readers: It significantly economizes the length of the novel by excising over one-hundred thousand words. An Introductory Essay and a Guide to Russian Patronymics and Character Names explore the context in which the work was written, its genre, and other key elements of the story. Annotations help readers understand historical and literary references. The revised edition adds translations for all foreign language passages of French, German, and Latin. Demons is Dostoevsky's great novel of politics, psychology, and social upheaval. Exploring how ideas come to possess those who espouse them, this is a story of unforgettable characters who pass through times of love, enlightenment, betrayal, and tragedy. Their story and the story of their life together shows how the choices they make in turn make a fabric of destiny, and the fate of their people rests on the nature of an idea. This revised abridged edition makes Dostoevsky's sprawling novel accessible to a new generation of readers. Marc Slonim said that Demons "is not only a novel about revolution, crime, atheism, religion, strong men, underground men, and the Russian past and present. It is . . . one of the most captivating and thrilling tales of modern literature." Ronald Hingley called Demons "one of humanity's most impressive achievements-perhaps even its supreme achievement-in the art of prose fiction."