Dosteovsky's immediate impulse for embarking on A Writer's Diary in 1873 was a desire to come into closer contact with his readers. Published in monthly instalments, it became a unique journalistic enterprise. Far more popular than his novels ever were, the Diary was Dostoevsky's favourite work. Brilliantly introduced by Rosamund Bartlett, the Diary stands revealed as the work of a writer-activist and blogger avant la lettre.