A new revised and abridged translation of Dostoevsky's 1872 novel, The Possessed (also known in English as Devils or Demons). Perhaps the most complicated and for non-Russians the most confusing of Dostoevsky's major novels, as much as the novel reflected its times, it still is relevant today exploring the danger of idealism and liberalism turning increasingly to violence when it lacks spiritual direction. Dostoevsky's questions and novel are as relevant today as they were almost 150 years ago. This translated edition of The Possessed has been revised and abridged by Thomas Beyer so that readers may more easily follow the story and themes of the original, without sacrificing the "essential Dostoevsky." Thomas Beyer is the C.V. Starr Professor of Russian at Middlebury College in Vermont where he has been reading and teaching Dostoevsky for the past forty years.