The novel by the famous Russian prose writer Valery Rogov, “The Contender to the Tsardom,” depicts Russia at the turn of the century - in the so-called transition period, also called the liberal revolution. Having completely abandoned so-called developed socialism, Russia, under relentless pressure from the West, plunged itself into a market economy, or, more simply put, into anarchic capitalism - and, as the author is convinced, was horrified by what it had done. Valery Rogov is the winner of many literary awards, the most notable in the last decade in patriotic circles - Bunin, Bulgakov, Pushkin.