‘…unparalleled debauchery, when man turns into a filthy, cowardly, cruel, vicious reptile. That’s what we need! And what’s more a little ‘fresh blood’ that we may grow accustomed to it…’ – Dostoevsky’s The Devils, Part II, Chapter VIII. ‘In my novel The Devils I attempted to depict the complex and heterogeneous motives which may prompt even the purest of heart and the most naive people to take part in an absolutely monstrous crime’ – Dostoevsky’s The Diary of a Writer. – S.B.