This book is the first biography of the Moscow prince Ivan Danilovich Kalita (d. 1340), the “collector of Rus'”, the true founder of the Moscow state.

He was unlucky in historiography. “Miser,” “hypocrite,” “treacherous Tatar saint”—whatever epithets the historians of the past and present centuries bestowed upon him. The author of the book tried to take a fresh look at this man - and a different Ivan Kalita appeared before us, a wise ruler who earned the nickname “Kind” from his contemporaries, a man who throughout his life tried to zealously fulfill the duty of a sovereign and a Christian.