Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov was first published as a book in 1880.
The novel had appeared in serial form in the literary journal The Russian Messenger from 1879 into 1880. Its book publication followed in 1880, making it Dostoevsky’s final completed novel. The story centers on the Karamazov family and explores faith, doubt, morality, freedom, guilt, and responsibility.
The novel’s major figures include the passionate Dmitri, the intellectually skeptical Ivan, the compassionate Alexei, and their father Fyodor Pavlovich. Although the brothers are central, the book also contains extensive philosophical and social debates, especially in Ivan’s poem about the Grand Inquisitor.
A common confusion is to date the novel only to 1879 because that was when serialization began. The complete book publication belongs to 1880, while Dostoevsky died in 1881 before producing another completed novel.