Stepan Razin is one of the most mysterious personalities in Russian history; Very little is known reliably about him, not a line written by him has survived, although he was supposedly literate and knew eight languages; he is completely, from birth to death, a complete myth and mystery. What is his nationality? Did he throw the Persian princess into the Volga, and Prince Prozorovsky from the bell tower? Who was he - a dashing pirate, a compassionate defender of the oppressed, or an ambitious politician? Why did he start everything that brought him fame and ended so horribly? The author invites the reader to engage in fascinating detective work together - relying on documents, unraveling the tangles of myths, ancient and modern, and trying to understand the mysterious man who lived so long before us.