The representative of the ancient boyar family of the Basmanovs, Alexei Danilovich (?-1570), was destined by fate to experience both great triumph and great tragedy in life. The Tsar's favorite, a brave and skillful military leader who distinguished himself during the capture of Kazan, in the Livonian War and in repelling the raid of the Crimean Tatars, he became a victim of the suspicion and cruelty of Ivan the Terrible. Alexei Danilovich Basmanov talks about the life of a major military and statesman of the times of Tsar Ivan IV, the inspirer of the oprichnina a new novel by the writer-historian Alexander Antonov.