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.