Жены русской короны (в 2-х томах)

Historical and journalistic research in two volumes “Wives of the Russian Crown” covers a period of nine centuries in the fate of Rus'-Russia.

A woman, the wife of a prince or king, is a special figure at the pinnacle of power. Who is she? How is her life going? The first volume opens with a story about Princess Olga, who went through a difficult path from paganism to Christianity and was the first to define the borders of Rus'.

Rogneda and Anna - the wives of Vladimir the Baptist, the wife and daughters of Yaroslav the Wise, the mysterious Englishwoman Gita, the wife of Vladimir Monomakh and the mother of Yuri Dolgoruky, the slandered Ulita, the wife of Andrei Bogolyubsky, and then - the holy wives of Rus': Euphrosyne of Polotsk, Efrosinya Suzdalskaya, Anna Kashinskaya. Images of Batu's invasion are replaced by images of the times of the birth of new Russia: Evdokia, the wife of Dmitry Donskoy, Sofia Paleolog, the wife of Ivan III, Solomonia and Elena - the wives of Vasily III. Tragic figures - the wives of Ivan the Terrible: Anastasia Romanovna, Marfa Saburova, Anna Koltovskaya, Maria Nagaya. Queens and princesses of the Time of Troubles: Irina and Ksenia Godunov, Marina Mnishek.

The first volume concludes with essays about the wives of the first kings of the Romanov dynasty: Evdokia Streshneva, Maria Miloslavskaya, Natalya Naryshkina.

The second volume of the historical and journalistic study “Wives of the Russian Crown” continues the theme in which the author consistently examines the history of Russia from a woman’s point of view.

Princess Sophia - who opened the age of women and paved the way for transformations for her brother Peter the Great, Peter's wives - Evdokia Lopukhina and Martha Catherine - new types of women in power. Empress Anna and Peter's daughter Elizabeth, who follows her, lead readers to the central image of the book, Catherine the Great, who managed to brilliantly fulfill the male role on the throne to the detriment of her female destiny.

`In the Shadow of Emperors` - the final chapters of the second volume bring out of the shadows the figures of empresses, usually not noticed by historians of the Soviet period: cast-iron Maria Feodorovna, wife of Paul I, charming Elizaveta Alekseevna, wife of Alexander I, reverent Alexandra Feodorovna, the wife of Nicholas I, the obedient Maria Alexandrovna, the wife of Alexander II, the brave Maria Feodorovna, the wife of Alexander III, and, finally, the tragic last Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, the wife of Nicholas II.

The fates of all the heroines of the two volumes of the study “Wives of the Russian Crown” lead the author and readers to unexpected conclusions about the fates of women in Russia, not only at the top of power, because everything that happens there is projected onto life below.

Essays about the wives of Russian princes and tsars are accompanied by numerous illustrations.