The writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Kondratyev (1911 - 2006) was born in the village of Gorlovka, Ryazan province, into a family of employees. He worked as a topographer in Kyrgyzstan, then, having received a diploma from the Ryazan Teachers' Institute, he taught in a rural school. Participant of the Great Patriotic War. He was awarded the Order of the Red Star, the Order of the Patriotic War, the medals “For Military Merit”, “For Victory over Germany”, etc. After the war, he graduated from the Military Academy of Communications and worked as an employee of a military institute. Member of the Russian Federation. He has been publishing since 1932. He published prose in collective collections. The novel “The Tsar’s Elder Brother” (1996) was published as a separate edition. Laureate of the Zodchiy Prize named after. D. Kedrina (1998). This volume presents the first book of the novel “The Tsar’s Elder Brother”. It has two main characters: the hard-hearted Tsar Ivan IV and his older brother Yuri, who was already deprived of the right to the throne at birth. He is a foundling, raised in a monastery, who does not know who his parents are. Having matured, Yuri leaves the monastery and enters military service. Promoted to the Streltsy foreman, he, thanks to his personal courage and intelligence, becomes a confidant of the sovereign and enters his inner circle...