A copy of the manuscript found its way out of the country, and the book has appeared in English, French and Czech translations, but never in Russian. We was written about 1923, and though it is not about Russia and has no direct connection with contemporary politics-it is a fantasy dealing with the twenty-sixth century A.D.-it was refused publication on the ground that it was ideologically undesirable. Zamyatin, who died in Paris in 1937, was a Russian novelist and critic who published a number of books both before and after the Revolution. Looking it up in Gleb Struve’s 25 Years of Soviet Russian Literature, I find its history to have been this: Several years after hearing of its existence, I have at last got my hands on a copy of Zamyatin’s We, which is one of the literary curiosities of this book-burning age. This material remains under copyright in some jurisdictions, including the United States, and is reproduced here with the kind permission of the Orwell Estate. Home / Orwell / Essays and other works / Freedom and Happiness (Review of ‘We’ by Yevgeny Zamyatin) Freedom and Happiness (Review of ‘We’ by Yevgeny Zamyatin)
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