This book is not a scientific work, which covers strictly documentary events of the mid-18th century. There are many events, they cling to each other in an endless string, creating a huge tangle of political and personal collisions that are sometimes completely incomprehensible at first glance. The modern mass reader, and especially the young reader, may not need such detail of events: it is tedious, but it is necessary to know at least the approximate sequence of development of Russian statehood at that time. Contrary to the negative attitude of almost all European states towards Russia, our country miraculously survived during that troubled time, grew stronger and loudly declared itself in Europe. Few people suspected then that soon certain events would occur that would shake up Russia, give impetus to the decline of one empire and the strengthening of another. For nineteen million Russians, a string of historical events will begin that contributed to the unprecedented flourishing of Russian statehood...