Dostoevsky wrote a large part of The Devils in 1870–71 during the final years of his self-imposed exile in Europe. Its somber mood, like that of The Idiot, reflects his distaste for life abroad and his concern about the destiny of his homeland. Initially intending it to be a satirical tract against the radicals, who, the writer feared, had gained exorbitant influence among educated Russians, Dostoevsky drew on the notorious Nechaev affair for the plot and some of the characters. Peter Verkhovensky is called “Nechaev” in the Notebooks to the novel, and like his prototype, he establishes a clandestine cell of revolutionaries and attempts to forge it together with the murder of a former member. His intention of wreaking moral and social havoc accords with Nechaev's doctrine that demanded breaking every ethical bond and devoting oneself to merciless destruction. Peter plans to infiltrate the narod and “unleash drunkenness, slander, denunciation … unimaginable debauchery” (10: 323), and this gory novel chronicles the unfolding of his scheme. Its events include the desecration of icons, robbery, arson, child abuse, suicide, and murder along with countless malicious pranks. By the end most of the major characters are dead.