SERGEI NECHAYEV, THE MOST FAMOUS OF THE FOUR, IS CHARACTERIZED AS A RUTHLESS ANARCHIST WITH A PHILOSOPHY BASED ON LOYALTY TO FRIENDS, IMPLACABLE HATRED OF AUTOCRACY, AND AN OVERWHELMING SYMPHATHY FOR THE OPPRESSED. HIS ESSAY, THE REVOLUTIONARY CATECHISM, CONSISTS OF 26 FORMAL ARTICLES ON THE NATURE OF THE REVOLUTION OF DESTRUCTION AND WAS LATER READ BY LENIN. NECHAYEV'S CONSPIRATORIAL ACTIVITIES WITH DISAFFECTED STUDENTS AND INTELLECTUALS IN ST. PETERSBURG AND HIS IMPRISONMENT IN THE NOTORIOUS PETER AND PAUL FORTRESS SOLIDIFIED THE LEGEND OF AN IMPLACABLE REVOLUTIONARY WHICH WAS TO INSPIRE THE GENERATION THAT SUCCEEDED IN DESTROYING THE CZAR. HIS COMPATRIOTS--ANDREI ZHELYABOV, YEGOR SAZONOV, AND IVAN KALIAYEV ARE DESCRIBED AS LACKING NECHAYEV'S RUTHLESSNESS AND POWER AND AS FIGHTING AGAINST APPALLING ODDS WITH COURAGE AND A CONSTANT AWARENESS OF HUMAN DIGNITY. THEIR CHARACTERS ARE ELUCIDATED THROUGH THE RETELLING OF SUCH EVENTS AS ZHELYABOV'S DOMINATION OF THE AUDIENCE AT HIS TRIAL, SAZONOV'S DELIBERATE SUICIDE TO SUMMON PEOPLE'S ATTENTION TO THE INHUMANE RUSSIAN PRISON SYSTEM, AND KALIAYEV'S DETERMINATION TO ASSASSINATE A GRAND DUKE. BY EXAMINING THE LIVES OF THESE MEN, THE AUTHOR SUGGESTS THAT SOVIET COMMUNISM MAY BE BETTER UNDERSTOOD. A BIBLIOGRAPHY AND FOOTNOTES ARE INCLUDED. (WJR)