So not what I expected, but then the introduction already said it - this addition to the series was different from others in that it did not take Dostoevskii's most prominent works and analyze them (because there were enough texts that do that according to the authors). Instead, the focus was on the context in which the works were published and the issues the critics think Dostoevskii was dealing with at the time, from personal beliefs to creative writing to religion and psychology. The result was a mishmash of essays that tried too hard to explain 'Dostoevskii' in his work, rather than keep enough of an objective distance between the author and the characters (the kind of criticism I enjoy). The topics were so varied, and the focus was on the themes, where several works were mentioned over and over, but each time in the context of the new theme. Other works were hardly recognized. All in all, a book for the most avid of Dostoevskii enthusiasts and for scholars. And nothing like other 'The Cambridge Companion to ...' series.