About the book: 2015 / The figure of Grand Duke Ivan III Vasilyevich is little known to modern Russians. And absolutely undeservedly. One enumeration of what he did is enough to place him among historical figures of the first magnitude. During the forty-year period of his reign, Ivan III completed the unification of disparate lands, from which a new united Russian state grew, which moved Europe from the forefront. The foundations of central and local government were laid, and the first Code of Law in history was adopted. A professional army appeared. And most importantly, Ivan III freed Rus' from the Mongol-Tatar yoke that lasted for so many centuries. True, under him a new name for the united lands appeared. The name we still use today is Russia. Together with the coat of arms in the form of a double-headed eagle - also the brainchild of those times.