Historical hoaxes are an ancient and very venerable genre. Walter Pater, Pavel Muratov, Vladislav Khodasevich, Jorge Luis Borges were interested in it at different times. Of course, by and large, any historical story is a hoax. But sometimes, in order to complete the artistic impression, it is important for a writer to achieve the illusion of absolute documentation of his narrative. This is not deception, not leading the reader by the nose, this is a game, which, in fact, is the essence of art. Each of the short stories in the collection reproduces either real historical characters or true events that took place in the past. The historical fabric of the story is completely reliable, although the plot twists are often such that someone may feel like they are reading historical fiction. The reader will have to decide for himself what is true and what is fiction, and where the fine line is that separates one from the other. Contains obscene language.