The famous historian Evgeny Anisimov admits that Elizabeth, the daughter of the Great Peter, is perhaps his favorite character in Russian history. She was lucky, the darling of fate. And her era is special: optimistic, inspiring, marked by “Enjoy love and life.” But her reign is also two decades of Russian history, which included the opening of Moscow University, the victory of Russian weapons in the Seven Years' War, public whipping of secular beauties, the “Saltychikha case” and the tragic fate of the Shlisselburg prisoner Ivan Antonovich...