Is murder is permissible in pursuit of a higher purpose? Meet Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, a destitute and desperate former student in St. Petersburg who formulates and executes a plan to kill an unscrupulous pawnbroker for her cash. Raskolnikov convinces himself that his motive for the murder is to benefit mankind. His struggle with himself and those around him becomes a battle of the individual against society, radicalism against tradition, and ultimately the will of man against the mysteries of divine providence. So begins one of the greatest novels ever written, a journey into the criminal mind, a police thriller, and a philosophical meditation on morality and redemption. The best known of Dostoevskys masterpieces, Crime and Punishment can bear any amount of rereading without losing a drop of its power over our imaginations.