The chilling dystopian novel that influencedGeorge Orwellwhile he was writing1984, with a new introduction byMargaret Atwoodand an essay byUrsula Le Guin“[Zamyatin’s] intuitive grasp of the irrational side of totalitarianism— human sacrifice, cruelty as an end in itself—makes [We] superior to Huxley’s [Brave New World].”—George OrwellIn a glass-enclosed city of perfectly straight lines, ruled over by an all-powerful “Benefactor,” the citizens of the totalitarian society of OneState are regulated by spies and secret police; wear identical clothing; and are distinguished only by a number assigned to them at birth. That is, until D-503, a mathematician who dreams in numbers, makes a discovery: he has an individual soul. He can feel things. He can fall in love. And, in doing so, he begins to dangerously veer from the norms of his society, becoming embroiled in a plot to destroy OneState and liberate the city.Set in the twenty-sixth century AD,Wewas the forerunner of canonical works fromGeorge OrwellandAldous Huxley, among others. It was suppressed for more than sixty years in Russia and remains a resounding cry for individual freedom, as well as a powerful, exciting, and vivid work of science fiction that still feels relevant today.Yevgeny ZamyatinRussian novelist, playwright, short story writer, and essayist, whose famous anti-utopia (1924, We) prefigured Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (1932), and inspired George Orwell's 1984 (1949). The book was considered a "malicious slander on socialism" in the Soviet Union, and it was not until 1988 that Zamyatin was rehabilitated. Due to his revolutionary activities, Zamyatin was arrested in 1905 and exiled. His first short story, 'Odin' (1908), drew on his experiences in prison.