The outstanding Pushkin scholar and historian of the liberation movement in Russia P. E. Shchegolev (1877–1931) spent a quarter of a century studying the activities of units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. His books, dedicated to political investigation and police provocation, have not been republished since 1930 and have long been extremely rare. The collection offered to the reader includes the most interesting works by P. E. Shchegolev about the leaders of the secret police, gendarmerie officers, spies, secret agents and provocateurs.