'Platonov is an extraordinary writer, perhaps the most brilliant Russian writer of the twentieth century' New York Review of BooksThe Soviet Don Quixote, Chevengur is now seen by many Russian writers as Russia's greatest novel of the last century. This is the first English version to convey its subtlety and depth. Zakhar Pavlovich, a gifted craftsman, moves from traditional village life to the world of industry.

He falls in love with steam locomotives, hoping to harness the power of machines to bring an end to human misery. Before long he is disillusioned. His adopted son, Sasha Dvanov, sets out across the steppes in pursuit of revolution, together with his companion, Kopionkin, knight errant of the martyred revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg.

Perhaps communism will be born spontaneously of human yearning?In the town of Chevengur, a group of impatient Bolsheviks are liquidating the bourgeoisie and half-bourgeoisie, and relocating the buildings. Communism, they believe, will come into being once everything else has been eliminated. Chevengur is a philosophical novel rich in psychological, social and sensuous detail.

Unpublished during Andrey Platonov's life, it is now one of the most celebrated of Russian novels. Along with The Foundation Pit, Soul and Happy Moscow, it is the most ambitious and moving of Platonov's recreations of a world undergoing revolutionary transformation. 'It was from the novel Chevengur that I learned to create "literary worlds".

Platonov is a self-taught literary jeweller, a true believer who built dystopias. His love for his characters is instantly conveyed to readers' Andrey KurkovTranslated by Robert Chandler and Elizabeth Chandler