Under the Sign of the Bastards

"Under the Sign of the Bastards" (1947) is the first novel by Vladimir Nabokov, created after his move from France to America during one of the most difficult periods of the writer's life. Contrary to his usual practice, Nabokov chose a socially significant and quite modern theme: the life of an outstanding person in the conditions of a totalitarian state. It is dedicated to the confrontation of the world-renowned philosopher Adam Krug, who has lost his wife and is left with a small son, against the dictatorship of the "equilibrists" ("equalizers"), who seek by all means to win him over to their side. However, the main theme of the novel, as noted by Nabokov himself, is "the beating of Krug's loving heart <…> and this book was written precisely for the pages about David and his father, and it is for this reason that it should be read." The novel is published in a new translation and accompanied by a preface by the author, an afterword, and comments by the translator, as well as additional materials illuminating its conception. In the Appendix, an expanded version of the first chapter of the novel is published, prepared for print for the first time from the manuscript.