The Brothers Karamazov

A father who is murdered. Three sons who might have done it. And a novel that contains all of human life.

Fyodor Dostoevsky's final masterpiece is the greatest novel ever written about faith, doubt, and the murder that lives in every family.

Fyodor Karamazov, a drunken, lecherous buffoon, is murdered. His three legitimate sons each embody a different way of being in the world. Dmitri, the eldest, is a passionate, impulsive soldier who wants his inheritance and his father's mistress. Ivan, the intellectual, is an atheist who argues that without God, everything is permitted, and then watches the consequences. Alyosha, the youngest, is a novice monk, pure of heart, who tries to hold his family together. And Smerdyakov, the illegitimate son, is a epileptic servant who may be the killer. The novel moves from the monastery to the courtroom, from philosophical debate to spiritual crisis, and ends with Alyosha standing over a dead boy, telling the living ones to love each other.

This is Dostoevsky at his most profound and sprawling: a novel about the Grand Inquisitor, the devil, the suffering of children, and the possibility of redemption after the worst has been done. The Brothers Karamazov is not a novel to be finished—it is a novel to be lived with.

• Dostoevsky's final novel, published in 1880, less than a year before his death

• Widely considered one of the greatest novels in world literature, influencing Freud, Kafka, Camus, and countless others

• Contains "The Grand Inquisitor," the most famous passage in all of Dostoevsky's work

Available in multiple formats:

• Paperback & Hardcover: Beautifully designed print editions presenting the complete, unabridged text made to last.

• Ebook: DRM-free EPUB compatible with Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, and all major e-readers.

• Audiobook: Professionally narrated, complete and unabridged, available on all major audiobook platforms.

A beautifully crafted edition for your shelf, your device, or your ears—or the perfect gift for anyone who knows that the murder is never the real story.

About the Author

Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821–1881) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and journalist, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in world literature. Born in Moscow, the second of seven children, he was the son of a military doctor who was murdered by his own serfs. Dostoevsky studied engineering but turned to writing. In 1849, he was arrested for his involvement in a progressive literary circle, sentenced to death, and subjected to a mock execution—the trauma of which shaped his entire worldview. He spent four years in a Siberian prison camp, followed by exile. The Brothers Karamazov was his last novel, published in 1880. He intended it as the first part of a larger work, The Life of a Great Sinner, but he died before he could continue. His other major works include Notes from Underground (1864), Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1869), and Demons (1872). He died of a pulmonary hemorrhage in 1881 and is buried in the Tikhvin Cemetery in St. Petersburg.