In one instance, Russia was replaced with Hungary as a country that is experimenting with new types of non-liberal democracy and dictatorship. The sections which described Russia as an “ideologically bankrupt country” where “oligarchs monopolize most of a country’s wealth and power” were removed, as was the description of Russian President Vladimir V. Putin as a leader with “no global worldview.”

For Mr. Chernikov, the omission of Russia’s invasion of his country was particularly stinging. “People who perished in eastern Ukraine are buried 150 meters away from where I live,” he said in a phone interview from his home in Ivano-Frankivsk. “What I am worried about here is that the authoritarian regime has implemented itself in Russia in full.”

Following the outcry, Mr. Harari, in an interview, tried to explain what happened.

He agreed to omit the mentions of Mr. Putin’s announcement about Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, he said, seeing it as a necessary compromise to make the book available to Russian readers.

“I really faced a dilemma whether to change these examples and publish the book or to leave them in and publish nothing,” Mr. Harari said. “I would never agree to write something which is not true, and I would never agree to change the main message of the book.”

Still, he was troubled to learn of other changes that he had not approved. For example, in the original book’s dedication, Mr. Harari references his husband, noting that “I only know how to write books. He does everything else.” But in the Russian translation, “husband” was changed to “partner.”