How excited the historian Gabriel Gorodetsky must have been to get access to 1,500 pages of hand-written notes by Ivan Maisky, the Soviet ambassador to London from 1932 to 1943. The document was exceptional for many reasons: the importance of Maisky’s diplomatic mission, which began just when Hitler’s expected accession to power heralded war in Europe; the situation in the Soviet Union, where purges would soon decimate armed forces officers and the diplomatic corps; and because of Maisky’s personality though a revolutionary activist, he was a man of great character and culture (including writing plays in verse).