The topic of the proposed “Essays” is determined by their title. The author wanted to study those issues in the history of the Time of Troubles that usually stand in the background not only among former, but also among new narrators. The rich literature about the Troubles allowed the author to completely bypass the many times described, well-known external details of the events and concentrate all his attention on depicting the activities of the circles that led public life and on the characteristics of mass movements in the Time of Troubles. Whether such a task was set in a timely manner and successfully completed, let learned criticism judge. The author divided his “Essays” into two unequal parts. The first of them has official significance and is a preparatory sketch; its purpose is to show the historical setting in which the action took place The troubles depicted in the second, main part. If the author is allowed to call his work an independent study, then he will not attribute such a definition, in its precise sense, to the first part of the Essays. The variety of subjects and abundance of materials included in the topic of this part would require not a condensed essay, but a multifaceted special study. The author did not have time for such research and did not feel the need for it. Scientific literature gave him the opportunity to collect sufficient material for his purpose from monographs and well-known collections of historical documents. Five excerpts from this book were previously published in the Journal of the Ministry of Public Education, namely: 1) “On the history of cities and roads on the southern outskirts of the Moscow State in the 16th century" (March 1898; in this book pp. 52-80); 2) “On the history of the oprichnina of the 16th century” (October 1897; in this book, pp. 92-104); 3) “The first political steps of Boris Godunov; 1584-1594” (June 1898; in this book, pp. 125-135); 4) “The struggle for the Moscow throne in 1598” (October 1898; in this book, pp. 136-145) and 5) “Tsar V. Shuisky and the boyars in 1606” (December 1898; in this book, pp. . 185-204).The end of many years of work inevitably turns one’s thoughts to those who knew about this work, sympathized with it and helped. The author gratefully remembers his now deceased teachers, and especially his beloved teacher and senior comrade V.G., who died these days. Vasilievsky. The author owes his deepest gratitude to his relatives and friends for their constant sympathy and assistance. Finally, the author thanks his dear students - N.P. Pavloya-Silvansky and P.G. Vasenko, who helped him with their work in printing this book. BRIEF CONTENTS: Preface (5). Part one. THE MOSCOW STATE BEFORE THE TROUBLESChapter one. Regions of the Moscow State. List of these areas (9).Chapter two. The crisis of the second half of the 16th century (81). Part two. TROUBLES IN THE MOSCOW STATE Chapter Three. The first period of the Troubles: The struggle for the Moscow throne. The general course of development of the Troubles (125). Chapter four. The second period of the Troubles: the destruction of state order (193). Chapter five. The third period of the Troubles: attempts to restore order. The most important of these attempts (292). Conclusion (364). Notes (369). Provisions (412). APPENDICES: E.V. Chistyakova. S.F. Platonov and his work “Essays on the history of the Time of Troubles...” (419). Archaeographic information (E.V. Chistyakova) (441). Index of proper names and geographical names (447). List of abbreviations (464).