Boris Vasiliev’s new novel, adjacent to the cycle of his novels about the princes of Ancient Rus' (“Prophetic Oleg”, “Olga, Queen of the Rus”, “Prince Svyatoslav”, “Yaroslav and his sons”), tells about the dramatic moments in the life of the great Prince of Kyiv Vladimir Monomakh (1053–1125), not only a great commander who did not lose a single battle, but also a great diplomat: at the decisive moment he managed to unite the Russian appanage principalities to repel the formidable external enemy - the Polovtsians, and then build relations with them in this way , which turned them from bitter enemies into loyal allies. For these military and peaceful deeds, the Polovtsian khans presented him with the famous Monomakh cap, which, after the death of Prince Vladimir, was used to crown all Russian rulers during the Great Reign.