A quarter of a century of the reign of the All-Russian Emperor Alexander II (1818-1881), perhaps the most glorious period in the history of the Russian Empire - a time of radical transformations of Russian society, often called the “era of great reforms”. This monarch has a worthy way out of the difficult Eastern (Crimean) ) war, which he inherited from his father, the final conquest of the Caucasus, the expansion of the empire in Central Asia and the Far East, victory in the Turkish War of 1877-1878, which eliminated the unfavorable consequences of the Paris Peace of 1856 for Russia and brought freedom to the Balkans , significant successes in the economic development of the country, and most importantly, the largest reforms in Russia. Alexander II, like no other of the heirs of Peter the Great, met the expectations and needs of society - and he, like no other, aroused hostility and impatient radicals, and extreme conservatives. The great reforms of Alexander II were interrupted by his death. On the day of his death, March 1, 1881, the emperor intended to sign the draft constitution prepared by the Minister of Internal Affairs Mikhail Tarielovich Loris-Melikov. There is still no answer to the questions: why from the king, who received the nickname “Tsar-Liberator”, a reformer who decided to destroy shameful Russian slavery, by the end of his reign Russian society turned away? Why did one of the fruits of the “great reforms” become a hitherto unprecedented, powerful terrorist organization? Why was the great reformer killed by the children of his own reforms? Russia was faced with a choice: European democracy or Asian despotism. The activities of Emperor Alexander II largely predetermined the future fate of the country, and the tragic death became the first bloody warning to descendants. Documents, letters, memoirs of contemporaries, notes of eyewitnesses, documents of the era published in this publication will allow the reader not only to feel the scale of the activities of the “tsar-liberator” , a Russian autocrat who found the strength to carry out the largest reforms in the history of post-Petrine Russia, but also to see the emperor as a person with all his advantages and disadvantages. The electronic publication includes the full text of the paper book and a selected part of illustrative documentary material. And for true connoisseurs of gift editions, we offer a classic book. Like all publications in the “Great Rulers” series, the book is equipped with detailed historical and biographical comments. The book contains an excellent selection of illustrative material: the text is accompanied by more than 200 rare illustrations from domestic and foreign sources, many of which the modern reader will become familiar with for the first time. Elegant design, beautiful printing, and the best offset paper make this series a wonderful gift and decoration for the library of the most discerning reader.