The life of the hero of this book, the infant emperor Ivan VI Antonovich (reign 1740–1741), can be called the most miserable of human lives. Guilty only of being born heir to the Russian throne, becoming king at the age of two months, he reigned for just over a year, was overthrown and put into custody along with his family. The unfortunate man spent the rest of his life - and he lived less than twenty-four years - in captivity, the last eight years in solitary confinement in the Shlisselburg fortress. The famous St. Petersburg historian, author of many remarkable studies on Russian history of the 18th century, Evgeniy Viktorovich Anisimov, talks about the tragic fate of the “third emperor” and about Russia of his time in his new book.