About the book: 2013 / “The Indian Century” - this is how the 18th century was nicknamed in Russia, when four empresses ascended to the Russian throne, ruling in total almost 70 years old. Did this era become the “golden age of the Russian Empire” - or did the dominance of favorites almost destroy the state? How did the intimate lives and alcove secrets of empresses determine the fate of the world, and how did the “femme fatales” on the throne make history? Why was Catherine the Great glorified as the “northern Messalina” and the “crowned harlot”, and why is it better not to pronounce the common nicknames of Catherine I, Anna Ioanovna and Elizaveta Petrovna in polite society? What passions were boiling in the personal chambers of the queens, what kind of love madness and sexual fantasies? And is simple female happiness possible on the throne of the Russian Empire??