We by Yevgeny Zamyatin | A beautiful edition by The Folio Society

Written in 1921 and banned in its native Russia until 1988, We is a uniquely prophetic dystopian satire, fearlessly excoriating the very concept of censorship and predicting the rise of Stalinism. George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley both stand as foundation stones of science-fiction literature, but neither might have existed without this remarkable book.

When We, his masterpiece, was banned by the Soviet Censorship Board for being ‘ideologically undesirable’, Zamyatin had it smuggled to the West, where it was translated into English and found an eager audience. Described by Ursula K. Le Guin, whose 1973 essay provides the introduction for this edition, as ‘the best single work of science fiction yet written’, We would go on to have a significant impact, not least on George Orwell, who admired the author’s ‘intuitive grasp of the irrational side of totalitarianism’.

For this edition Kit Russell has created a series of eerily beautiful monochromatic illustrations, where the human figures are dominated by ominous geometric shapes. In celebration of this under-appreciated classic we have also created a special lenticular die-cut slipcase which interacts uniquely with the binding.

[joeomalley]

Nice, I just finished this one. It is very thought-provoking and very timely for today's world. The grandfather of all dsytopias. A very fine read.

[ShawnBirss]

I love We. I love Le Guin. I am buying this book.

[kevkas]

Does anyone know the song or soundtrack used in this video? I really like the tone of the music.

[foolshmortal]

Fascinating. Still, outside maybe seasoned sci-fi fans, what profound effect did he have? You only hear about, "A Brave New World" and "1984", when it comes to really classic future dystopia (not involving Lovecraftian beings) literature. Am I wrong?

[SSCBulgaria]

Even more valuable in the cirrent times of second rising of authoritarianism, especially in his home country - Putlerstan