Vasily Yan (Vassily Grigoryevich Yanchevetsky, 1874-1954) was a writer of historical novels whose popularity survives the test of time. He was widely read throughout the Soviet era and continues to be popular in the post-Soviet era. This book is not just a biographical sketch of an important Russian/Soviet writer basically unknown to the Western public. The focus on Yan and his work also demonstrates the role of ideology in a totalitarian society. Shlapentokh shows that ideology and cultural and intellectual life in totalitarian regimes are more complex than is often assumed. Intellectuals often engaged in stressful, but-in its literary outcome-captivating "cat and mouse" games with censors, the powerful, and the government.