The historical background of the novel “Herod’s Shadow” (“Idealists and Realists”) was Levin’s investigative case, from the archives of the Secret Chancellery. Other lines of the novel relating to Tsarevich Alexei and his supporters, the dissemination among the people of the teachings of Grigory Talitsky about Peter - the Antichrist, about the history of the schism, etc. are also fairly reliably provided. Many of the subjects touched upon in the novel have long been “blank” spots in our history. The fate of the novel's heroes gives reason to think about the historical destinies of the Russian people, about the greatness of the paths they have traversed.