Mark Aleksandrovich Aldanov (1886–1957) was born in Kyiv. In 1919 he emigrated to France, where he worked as a chemical engineer. His historical novels “The Ninth of Thermidor”, “Devil’s Bridge”, “Conspiracy”, “St. Helena, Little Island”, published in Berlin in 1923-1927, brought him wide fame, which reflected the events of Russian and European history of the late 18th - early 19th centuries. The novel “The Ninth of Thermidor” is dedicated, in fact, to one event - the overthrow of the Jacobin dictatorship and the death of their leader Maximilian Robespierre in 1801. The author has found a very elegant explanation for the mystery of the death of the French dictator. The novel “Devil's Bridge” tells about the heroic transition of the Russian army through the Alps after a forced retreat from Northern Italy. Under the leadership of the brilliant commander Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov, the Russians not only carried out this unprecedented campaign, but also contributed to the emergence of a new state in Europe - the Swiss Federation.