Set in a distant future, where humans are forced to submit their wills to the requirements of the state under the rule of the all-powerful Benefactor, dreams are regarded as a sign of mental illness. In a city of straight lines, protected by green walls and a glass dome, a spaceship is being built to spearhead the conquest of new planets. Its chief engineer, a man named D-503, keeps a journal of his life and activities. To his mathematical mind, everything seems to make sense and proceed as it should, until a chance encounter with a woman threatens to shatter the very foundations of the world he lives in. Written in a highly charged, direct, and concise style, Zamyatin's 1921 seminal novel—here presented in Hugh Aplin's crisp translation—is not only an indictment of Soviet Russia of his time but also a precursor to the works of Orwell and the dystopian genre.