Who was Emperor Paul the First - a soulless tyrant or an enlightened reformer, the new Peter the Great or just a caricature of him? Suffering from delusions of grandeur and lacking the willpower and desire to control his extravagant actions, he found satisfaction in undeserved punishments and equally undeserved encouragements. The absurdity of his ideas almost brought the country to the brink of chaos, and the tragic end made this monarch a forever misunderstood hero of the historical drama. The famous French writer Ari Trouail is trying to understand the controversial fate of the Russian monarch and offers his version of the events that influenced the course of Russian history.< /p>