A book by a world-famous writer about Russia, published in the West in different years of the last two centuries. The text that Alexandre Dumas the father himself sent to the printing house was accepted for translation. These are large travel essays with deep excursions into the history of our country. In them, sovereigns and nobles, reformers and generals, poets and Decembrists leave their portrait frames, becoming heroes of fascinating and educational short stories, an unbroken chain of which stretches through the events of centuries from the Russian principalities to the empire of Alexander II, contemporary to the writer. Pictures of great victories over the “invincible” armies of Charles XII and Napoleon have been recreated. The stigma of vile slavery was left on the serf system, the abuses and corruption reigning in the country were ridiculed. The book was written during Alexandre Dumas’s travels across Russia in 1858–1859. The writer's main remarks and conclusions have not lost their significance. Russia will recognize itself in the mirror of these essays for a long time to come. Translation, introductory article and notes: Vladimir Ishechkin