D. L. Mordovtsev, popular in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. historian-fiction writer, left a huge literary heritage. The novels collected in this book belong to the best works of the writer. Their main idea is the struggle between two Russias: the pre-Petrine country, which lost a lot during “more than one century of hibernation, stagnation...”, and the Europeanized empire created by the will of the great tsar. Although the plots of the novels are familiar to the reader, the author enriches our understanding with the most interesting material.

“Apparently, the meaning of Vanka Cain is still not understood. Meanwhile, Cain’s right to historical immortality lies in the fact that he is a living reflection of the whole of Russia at that time, a microcosm of our demoralized society, which, starting from the persons who stood at the throne and ending with the nakedness of the tavern, practiced moral and civil rules on a wide scale Vanki Cain - stole, cheated, robbed, informed."