After Evgeny Zamiatin emigrated from the USSR in 1931, he was
systematically airbrushed out of Soviet literary history, despite the
central role he had played in the cultural life of Russia's northern
capital for nearly twenty years. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union,
his writings have gradually been rediscovered in Russia, but with his
archives scattered between Russia, France, and the USA, the project of
reconstructing the story of his life has been a complex task. This book,
the first full biography of Zamiatin in any language, draws upon his
extensive correspondence and other documents in order to provide an
account of his life which explores his intimate preoccupations, as well
as uncovering the political and cultural background to many of his
works. It reveals a man of strong will and high principles, who
negotiated the political dilemmas of his day--including his relationship
with Stalin--with great shrewdness.