We by Yevgeny Zamyatin is a Russian dystopian novel written in 1920 and 1921 that shaped the genre. It follows D-503, an engineer in a glass city called the One State, where every hour is scheduled and everyone is watched. George Orwell read it before writing Nineteen Eighty-Four. It is still worth reading in 2026.
Most readers come to We after finishing 1984 or Brave New World. That is the wrong order, in a sense, because Zamyatin got there first. This review looks at what the book is about, why it matters and which translation to pick.
Quick facts: We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Author | Yevgeny Zamyatin (1884 to 1937) |
| Written | 1920 to 1921 |
| First published | 1924, in English, translated by Gregory Zilboorg |
| Published in the Soviet Union | 1988 |
| Narrator | D-503, a spacecraft engineer |
| Genre | Dystopian fiction, science fiction |
What is We by Yevgeny Zamyatin about?
The novel is set in the One State, a city made of glass and surrounded by the Green Wall, which keeps nature out. People are known by numbers, not names. Their days are planned to the minute, and the glass walls mean there is nowhere to hide. The ruler is called the Benefactor.
D-503 is building the Integral, a spaceship meant to carry the One State’s ideas to other planets. He writes a journal for the people the ship will meet. At first the entries are proud and mathematical. He believes in the system completely.
Then he meets I-330, a woman who smokes, drinks and openly breaks the rules. She is linked to the Mephi, a group that wants to bring down the Green Wall. Through her, D-503 starts to feel things the State has trained out of him, and his journal falls apart along with his certainty.
Key characters
- D-503: the narrator, an engineer who moves from loyal citizen to confused rebel.
- I-330: the rebel who draws him into the Mephi plot.
- O-90: D-503’s lover, who wants a child.
- R-13: a State poet and D-503’s close friend.
- S-4711: a double agent whose loyalties are never fully clear.
- The Benefactor: the dictator who rules the One State.
What works in the book
The world-building is the book’s biggest strength. A century later, the glass city still feels like a sharp picture of a society where privacy is gone. The scheduled hours and constant watching read very differently in an age of phones and social media than they did in 1921.
The prose is the second strength. Zamyatin writes in short, broken bursts that mirror D-503’s growing anxiety. When he is calm, the sentences are neat and logical. When he is lost, they break into fragments. It takes a few chapters to get used to, but it is clever.
The book also asks real questions. Can people be happy without being free? Is a perfect system worth the loss of the individual? What starts a revolution? Zamyatin does not give easy answers.
What does not work as well
At times the plot gets buried under D-503’s inner monologue. Some chapters move slowly, and readers used to fast thrillers may find the middle section heavy. The ending, though, is strong and bleak, and it stays with you.
Why We matters: the link to 1984 and Brave New World
George Orwell reviewed a French translation of We in 1946. In that review, he argued that Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World must have been partly based on it. Huxley denied this. Orwell began writing Nineteen Eighty-Four about eight months after reading We, and the influence is clear in its surveillance state.
Readers will also notice ideas that later appear in modern young adult dystopias such as The Hunger Games and Divergent. Zamyatin, who had been an Old Bolshevik himself, was writing about where he feared the new Soviet state was heading.
About Yevgeny Zamyatin
Zamyatin was born on 1 February 1884 in Lebedyan, Russia. He trained as a naval engineer and in 1916 was sent to England to supervise the building of icebreakers in Newcastle. His satire The Islanders (1918) came out of that stay.
We was not published in the Soviet Union until 1988. Zamyatin wrote to Stalin in 1931 asking to leave the country, and he left in November that year. He settled in Paris, where he died in poverty on 10 March 1937.
Which English translation should you read?
There are several. The main ones are by Mirra Ginsburg (1972), Clarence Brown (Penguin, 1993), Natasha Randall (Modern Library, 2006) and Bela Shayevich (Ecco, 2021). The Penguin and Modern Library editions are widely read and easy to order online. A Russian film adaptation directed by Hamlet Dulyan was planned for 2021 but has not been released.
Verdict
We is a short, sharp classic that every fan of dystopian fiction should read. It is not always easy, but it explains where much of the genre came from. Read it before or after 1984, but read it.
For more book reviews and reading lists, see our reviews section and listicles.
Frequently asked questions
Is We by Zamyatin worth reading?
Yes. It is one of the first modern dystopian novels, it influenced 1984, and its ideas about surveillance still feel current.
Did We inspire 1984?
Yes. Orwell reviewed We in 1946 and began writing Nineteen Eighty-Four about eight months after reading it.
Why was We not published in the Soviet Union?
The novel criticised a state that controls every part of life, which Soviet authorities did not accept. It was first published in Russia only in 1988.
What is the best translation of We?
Clarence Brown’s Penguin edition and Natasha Randall’s Modern Library edition are the most widely read. Bela Shayevich’s 2021 translation is the newest.
Sources: We (Wikipedia), Yevgeny Zamyatin (Wikipedia).
