1569. Muscovite Rus' is going through some of the darkest pages of its history. The oprichnina, established by Tsar Ivan, tears the country and society into opposing camps. The Livonian War is lost, there is discord and turmoil everywhere, hereditary aristocrats are fleeing secretly and openly to the West in the hope of waiting out, sitting out the difficult time. Bloody reprisals against the rebellious and freethinkers are sweeping the country. What is this? Madness of the ruler?.. Reprisals against possible opponents?.. Or a strategic plan to save the Russian state?.. The famous writer-historian Viktor Smirnov gives his own, original interpretation of the ancient events that led Rus'-Russia to the political catastrophe known to us as the Time of Troubles.< /p>