Walpole first began to write while at Cambridge and published his first novel, The Wooden Horse in 1909. It was followed by over 50 works, including perhaps his most popular novels, The Herries Chronicle, set in the Lake District. This novel is set in Russia at the time of the Russian Revolution, which Walpole covered as a correspondent. John Durward meets Henry Bohun when the latter takes lodgings with his friends, Nicolas and Vera Petrovitch and Vera's younger sister, Nina. Vera encourages Bohun's interest in her sister, while Nina longs to leave home. Then, at Christmas, their uncle Semyonov turns up, bringing a sense of impending trouble with him while in Petrograd revolution threatens.