About the book: 2010 / Evgeny Anisimov - a famous historian, a world-famous scientist is sure: we need to write about the distant past of our country in a way that would be interesting to everyone. The story in his interpretation is a real detective story with a plot, rapid development of events and an unexpected ending. In the new book, the historian’s gaze falls on the era of palace coups after the death of Peter I. “He lay in his gilded coffin, and contenders for the throne hastily resolved the fundamental question: “Where should we go?”” The history of the reigns of Peter’s closest successors - Catherine I, Peter II, Anna Ioannovna, their struggle for power, passions and dramas of their personal lives - the contents of this book.