One of Time's 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time . Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read

A desperate young man plans the perfect crime-the murder of a despicable pawnbroker, an old women no one loves and no one will mourn. Is it not just, he reasons, for a man of genius to commit such a crime, to transgress moral law-if it will ultimately benefit humanity? So begins one of the greatest novels ever written- a powerful psychological study, a terrifying murder mystery, a fascinating detective thriller infused with philosophical, religious and social commentary. Raskolnikov, an impoverished student living in a garret in the gloomy slums of St. Petersburg, carries out his grotesque scheme and plunges into a hell of persecution, madness and terror. Crime and Punishment takes the reader on a journey into the darkest recesses of the criminal and depraved mind, and exposes the soul of a man possessed by both good and evil . . . a man who cannot escape his own conscience.

Industry Reviews

: " The best [translation of "Crime and Punishment"] currently available... An especially faithful re-creation... with a coiled-spring kinetic energy... Don't miss it." - "Washington Post Book World" " This fresh, new translation... provides a more exact, idiomatic, and contemporary rendition of the novel that brings Fyodor Dostoevsky's tale achingly alive... It succeeds beautifully." - "San Francisco Chronicle" " Reaches as close to Dostoevsky's Russian as is possible in English... The original's force and frightening immediacy is captured... The Pevear and Volokhonsky translation will become the standard English version." - "Chicago Tribune"