Part of the appeal of Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment is its believability, and here Kevin Birmingham reveals the true stories that helped to inspire the masterpiece. Exiled to Siberia for his radical politics, Dostoevsky spent years studying the criminals that were his companions, and later drew inspiration for Raskolnikov from the sensational story of nihilist and murderer Pierre François Lacenaire. Birmingham also tells the story of how the Russian writer fell in love with his stenographer, Anna Grigorievna, forging a partnership that would transform his career.