John Hopkins

1917's February Revolution removes the Russian Tsar but leaves a provisional government in place, so business can continue as normal.

At first, Riley has no reason to panic.

But eight months later, the October Revolution changes everything.

His marriage to Margaret now fading from his story, he crosses without her from the United States into Canada and presents himself at a British recruitment station in Toronto.

With the war entering its final phase, his offer to do his bit arrives late.

But when he casually mentions that he speaks fluent Russian, the paperwork finds its way onto a desk far away.

Britain urgently needs men who can enter revolutionary Russia and discover what's happening inside the new Bolshevik regime.

Riley is ambitious, multilingual, already experienced in arms dealing and politics.

He is exactly what they need.

And of course, his name is not entirely unfamiliar in London.

Some in the intelligence world, like William Melville, remember him as an effective informant from years before.

Officials in MI1C, the forerunner of MI6, review his file and find a shady past, questionable business dealings, and irregularities around his identity.

Riley is dispatched to revolutionary Russia with clear instructions to report to Moscow and find out what the new Bolshevik government is really thinking.

He is given funds, a bag of diamonds for leverage, and a simple brief to assess whether Russia really intends to pull out of the war.

But he doesn't follow his orders.

Instead of heading straight to Moscow, Riley vanishes.

With his bosses apparently clueless of his whereabouts, he detours to Petrograd, the former St.

Petersburg, to recover his Napoleonic art collection, which later resurfaces in New York.

Even on his first official mission, Riley appears to place self-interest above national service.

Eventually, though, he does arrive in Moscow and gets to work.