About the book: 2024 / In the new book of the famous human rights activist and journalist Eva Merkacheva, author of the best-selling books "High-profile cases" , “City of the Doomed” and “Who is Good to Sit in Rus'”, tells about the most interesting criminal cases - from those that thundered throughout Russia to those that were classified (until recently). It included legal proceedings from tsarist times, including trials of sorcerers and poisoners. For the first time, unique judicial materials related to Leo Tolstoy, a justice of the peace, juror and... accused of murder, are being published. You will learn about the trials of the executioner Lieutenant Schmidt and the high-profile case of the inventor of the theremin Theremin, read about justice in besieged and post-siege Leningrad, as well as high-profile post-war trials. The author has painstakingly collected materials about the murders of Soviet citizens in peaceful years, which excited the whole country, - such as the Raskin case, the terrorist attack at the Kotlyakovsky cemetery and the mysterious death of the expedition at the Dyatlov Pass. The book includes the high-profile cases of Joseph Brodsky about parasitism and the large Ovechkin family about the hijacking of an airplane in the 1980s. The book is written in the genre of forensic essays and contains unique archival materials, including illustrative ones, many of which have not been published before. Victor Hugo said: “ It doesn't matter to me whose side is strong; what matters is whose side is right.” However, at different times, law has appeared in different guises. There were periods when our country was judged for something that in other times even seemed wild to even talk about... I invite the reader to walk with me through the court archives and plunge into the atmosphere of ancient justice - no matter how it may seem from today's point of view. FeaturesUnique documentary materials, including archival and previously unpublished ones. For whomFor everyone who is interested in the history of Russia and the history of the development of criminal law, the topic of crime investigation, criminology and sociology.