Children of the Arbat (Russian: Дети Арбата) is a novel by Anatoly Rybakov that recounts the era in the Soviet Union of the build-up to the Congress of the Victors, the early years of the second Five Year Plan and the (supposed) circumstances of the murder of Sergey Kirov prior to the beginning of the Great Purge. It is the first book of the tetralogy, followed by the books 1935 and Other Years (Russian: Тридцать пятый и другие годы, 1989), Fear (Russian: Страх) and Dust and Ashes (Russian: Прах и пепел).