The book is dedicated to solving a mystery that has dominated Russian history for several centuries. It describes in detail the mechanism of the emergence of the “legend of the Normans”, about the so-called Varangian conquest, about which we still know mainly what they wanted to say about it and are willingly repeated even today by those interested (and not very friendly towards Russia) sources. The very concept of the book—an analysis of the Laurentian Chronicle manuscript and the circumstances surrounding its creation—is as open as possible to the reader. Who is Rurik, where did he come from and whether he existed at all, what role did Ivan the Terrible play in the actualization of the problem of the Rurikovichs and what dynastic considerations were the reason for this - the author sets out all this using a variety of historical materials. The book will be interesting for readers interested in history.