I. Ilf and E. Petrov completed the novel “The Twelve Chairs” in 1928, but even before the first publication, censors cut it down considerably, “cleaned” it. The editing continued from edition to edition for another ten years. In the end, the book shrank by almost a third.
The version published now— the first complete one—has been reconstructed from archival materials. The book includes extensive historical-literary and real commentary.