About the book: 2016 / The book by the famous historian and writer Nikolai Pavlenko is dedicated to the ten-year reign (1730–1740) of Empress Anna Ioannovna. The author skillfully and scrupulously describes this period of “German dominance” in Russia through the biographies of the main characters of the era - Biron, Osterman, Minich, Volynsky and others. To more accurately recreate the image of the empress and her associates, the writer uses a large number of documentary sources, including archival materials, many of which are presented for the first time. To the question whether there was Bironovism in Russia, the writer in his novel gives a positive answer. It is no coincidence that Biron’s contemporaries called him “the uncrowned ruler of Russia.”».