Les possédés

"Les possédés" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky is a novel first published in 1871–72. A fictional Russian town descends into chaos when master conspirator Pyotr Verkhovensky orchestrates an attempted revolution. At the story's center is the mysterious aristocrat Nikolai Stavrogin, who exerts an extraordinary influence over nearly everyone around him. This political satire and psychological drama explores how destructive ideologies can possess individuals and communities, tracing the dangerous consequences of the nihilistic ideas spreading through 1860s Russia.