One of the “chicks of Petrov’s nest,” Artemy Volynsky, went from an ordinary soldier to the first minister of the empire. The descendant of the hero of the Battle of Kulikovo participated in the Battle of Poltava, was a royal courier and a prisoner in a Turkish prison, a military general and plenipotentiary ambassador, a courtier in the capital and a governor on the outskirts, a horse breeder and showmaker, he was in charge of the royal hunt and staged an unprecedented spectacle - the wedding of a jester in the Ice House. He was repeatedly investigated for bribery and arbitrariness, and after his death he became a symbol of the fight against “German dominance.” Based on archival materials, the book by Doctor of Historical Sciences Igor Kurukin tells about the fate of one of the most prominent figures of Anna’s reign, the cabinet minister who drew up the projects reorganization of public administration, nominated by Biron, who decided to compete with a powerful patron and laid down his head on the chopping block.