First published in 1872, ‘Demons’ is a rich political novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky, a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, and journalist. It is a testimonial of life in Imperial Russia in the late 19th century.
The novel follows the travails of a small provincial town beset by a band of modish radicals—and in so doing presents a devastating depiction of life and politics in late 19th-century Imperial Russia. Both a hideous comedy and a shocking illustration of clashing ideologies, Dostoevsky’s famed novel stands as an undeniable masterpiece.
Dostoyevsky’s life of ideas and spiritual realism concept is presented through his definition of evil as the passion for power. The demons are ideas, such as idealism, rationalism, empiricism, materialism, utilitarianism, positivism, socialism, anarchism, nihilism, and atheism.