Ya. Gordin’s book “Duels and Duelists” is dedicated to a little-studied, but very important aspect of Russian history of the St. Petersburg period - the dueling tradition of the Russian nobility. Based on archival documents - military court cases and numerous memoirs, the author outlines the history of duels in Russia in the 18th–19th centuries. Tragic and comic situations, strong characters and examples of weakness, the struggle of power with the right of the nobles to resolve their personal conflicts themselves, painful awareness and then fierce defense of the concept of noble honor - all this gives a bright and varied picture of life, especially in the capital, since the times of Peter the Great until the middle of the last century. The book publishes dueling codes and - for the first time - “The Case of Lieutenant L.-Gv. Hussar Regiment Lermontov, put on trial by military court for the duel he carried out with the French subject Barant...” The book contains about a hundred illustrations and is intended for a wide range of readers.