In 1915, Gregory Rasputin went to visit young Marya Mlozov in Moscow. He was expecting to talk to her about what she claimed were visions, and to meet soldiers wounded in the Great War; but to his great sadness, he found himself caught up instead in what he called ‘a banquet during the plague’, a frivolous evening party.

Shelley saw Rasputin’s disappointment, and reflected that the same trick was played on him by many others, including those who assassinated him a year later. Before the two men parted, Shelley heard Rasputin’s hopes for Russia and the war, and his fears for Germany if her defeat (which naturally he looked forward to) should lead to a republic.

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