The topic of power is one of the most pressing and inexhaustible in the history of Russia. Blind love for the Tsar-Father, the deification of the ruler and at the same time continuous popular revolts, conspiracies, imposture - this is a constant combination of incompatible things that worries writers and historians. The book “The Burden of Power” presents two dramatic periods of Russian history: the beginning of the Time of Troubles (the reign of Fyodor Ivanovich, his death and the accession of Boris Godunov) and the period of the reign of Paul I, his murder and the accession of his son Alexander I. The authors of the historical essays “There is no power if not from God” and “The temptation of power” answer important questions: what is a burden authorities? How does it put pressure on a person? how to honestly fulfill your duty to the people, having received power into your own hands? For a wide range of readers. The book includes works: A. K. Tolstoy. "Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich": tragedy.D. S. Merezhkovsky. "Paul the First": play.E. G. Perova. “There is no power if not from God”: essay.I. L. Andreev. “The temptation of power”: an essay.