ABSTRACT
The Russian revolutionary in exile in the West found his way to the pages of authors as diverse as Joseph Conrad and Arthur Conan Doyle. In Russia itself the radical-revolutionary mystique became the creed of the educated and professional class. The shock at the murder of the emperor broke the spell that the revolutionary mystique had cast over society. There followed a period of reaction under Alexander III, who curtailed his father's reforms and abandoned a plan for a parliamentary body The revolutionary virus, however, remained within the tissue of society and would erupt with violence after another generation. The genuine idealism of some of the rebels puts in stark contrast the sheer criminality, the lust for violence, of others. For all the thorough studies of the subject, there was still an air of mystery attending some of the crucial episodes of the revolutionary saga.
