The Time of Troubles is one of the most tragic pages of Russian history, filled with political intrigue, bloody battles, the heroism of some and the betrayal of others. What we know about people during the Russian Time of Troubles from a school textbook is often completely inconsistent with their real deeds. The Romanovs - conspirators, one of the instigators of the Troubles, who fought together with the Poles in the Moscow Kremlin from the Russian militia of Minin and Pozharsky, turned out to be, thanks to their victory in the elections of the “people's tsar,” heroes and saviors of Russia. Ivan Bolotnikov, a protege of the foreign enemies of the Moscow state, turned into the leader of the peasant liberation movement in the history textbook. Marina Mnishek, the legally crowned empress, is presented as an intriguer and adventurer. And Maria’s four-year-old son Ivan, innocently hanged by Mikhail Romanov, the main contender for the Moscow throne, was completely thrown out of the pages of history so as not to tarnish the bright image of the Romanov dynasty. This book will put all the heroes and villains of the Time of Troubles in their place and allow the reader to understand who is who in Russian history of the 17th century.