Iliyan Kuzmanov – The Dissident Mind Behind The Devil I Know Him

Iliyan Kuzmanov writes The Devil I Know Him with bravery, truth, and a distinct sense of lived experiences from his own life. In this book, Kuzmanov paints a vivid tale that features a clear metaphor for the communist society that still spreads itself across Eastern Europe to this day. And this lines up seamlessly with the author and journalist’s history in his home country of Bulgaria.

Kuzmanov has long since written about the corruption in modern-day Bulgaria and the Putin regime, which dates back decades into his own childhood. He uses his own anecdotes, experiences and discoveries through his troubled life to pain magical realism and symbolism throughout the novel, teaching us exactly what totalitarianism means to the man on the ground. He also touches on the wider cultural and religious ramifications of such political tyranny.

For those unfamiliar with his work, Iliyan is a best-selling writer and the winner of numerous awards in recent years, including the Golden Key For Contribution to the Bulgarian Society. With his first novel, Iliyan became the first Bulgarian writer to break into Amazon’s top 20 list, and even scooped the Writer With The Greatest Potential award in 2022. Kuzmanov was born in Bulgaria but studied in Canada before moving to Britain to make his fortune as a successful businessman. These days, he uses his money to fund his activism and fight the good fight on behalf of those who are unable.

In the context of Eastern European history, Iliyan is quickly making a name for himself as a brave journalist, historian and writer, with a clear focus on defending human rights. In this latest novel, The Devil I Know Him, you will also find LGDP representation, as well as a number of other societal groups who are so rarely given a voice. He speaks so openly and passionately about the fundamentals of Christianity and those who were prosecuted during the communist movement, as well as the truth behind human sin and the opportunity for redemption.

Kuzmanov depicts the spread of communist society across Eastern Europe, describing its transformative effect on the people as it turned them into an amorphous biological mass. Iliyan claims communism was like a zombie apocalypse that destroyed any flicker of personal initiative or business, killing those who believed in or sought after the spiritual world.

Iliyan himself has deep roots in Ottoman and Bulgarian history, as a descendant of a noble family of entrepreneurs and public figures who lost everything they had to the wave of communism. And now history repeats itself, as Iliyan Kuzmanov releases his own anti-totalitarian manifesto, outlining the threat of Putin, attacks in Bulgaria, and why Iliyan himself was forced to flee to the United Kingdom.

There is a reason that Iliyan Kuzmanov is being described as the modern-day dissident, and The Devil I Know Him is why…