Vladimir the Holy, Vladimir the Red Sun... His whole life is a tangle of contradictions. He was the child of a housekeeper slave, and became the Grand Duke of Kyiv, united Rus', and created the strongest state in Europe. He loved women - and made them unhappy. He wanted peace while waging brutal wars. He cared about the spread of writing, but he himself was illiterate. He remained in people's memory as the Red Sun (for his kindness and help to those in need) - and the owner of a huge harem, a molester of his husband's wives and girls. He was an ardent pagan - but turned into a devout Christian. He lived the life of a great sinner and became a great saint. He shed rivers of blood and gave Rus' a new faith and a great future. I knew thousands of women, but I truly loved only one. And this beloved wife, once taken by force, Princess Rogneda, bore him a son who would become one of the most glorious Russian princes - Yaroslav the Wise...