A man wakes up in hospital, with no idea who he is or how he came to be there. The doctor tells him his name—Innokenty Petrovich Platonov—but it isn't familiar. As memories slowly resurface, the patient begins to build a picture of his former life: Russia in the early 20th century, the turbulence of the revolution, the aftermath. But how can this be possible when the pills beside his bed are dated 1999? Shortlisted for the Russian Booker Prize, this novel by the author of Laurus paints a vivid, panoramic picture of life in Russia a century ago, even as it chronicles the exploits of this time traveler in the Glasnost era.