Before you are two historical novels by the wonderful Russian writer Valerian Yakovlevich Svetlov (1860–1934). In the fascinating work “At the Court of the Quietest” V. Ya. Svetlov managed to see history in a new way, it is so interesting to recreate the life of people of that time, with their joys and sorrows, experiences and reflections, that an entire era appears before readers as if it was previously unknown to him. Several generations peered in the Kunstkamera into the facial features of a woman whose head was preserved for viewing for such an ungodly long time, and would have become acquainted with interest in what as the writer presented in the novel “Adventurer” the life of this criminally famous maid of honor of Peter’s time. Contents: At the court of the Quiet Adventurer