Временщик (А. А. Аракчеев)

The book is a documentary narrative about the life and state activities of a man whose name is associated with a whole era in the history of Russia - Count A. A. Arakcheev. On the basis of documents, most of which are extracted from the archives, the image of a major dignitary who played the most important roles in the mechanism of autocratic power at the end of the 18th - the first quarter of the 19th centuries is given, the secret springs of his rise are revealed, the true meaning of the phenomenon called "Arakcheevshchina". The colorful personality of Arakcheev is drawn against the background of the events of that time, in relations with the emperors Paul I, Alexander I, Nicholas I, prominent dignitaries: Speransky, Rastopchin and others.

The author, a professor at the Faculty of Law of Moscow University, intends his book for a wide range of readers.