Harvard historian Serhiy Plokhiy solves in his new book the mystery of The History of the Rus, one of the most important and most famous texts of modern Ukrainian history. Finding the author of a mysterious landmark, explaining its internal logic and purpose is the main storyline of this book. Two additional motives - the history of the Ukrainian Cossacks from the beginning of the 16th to the beginning of the 19th century and the history of the discovery, publication and research of the "History of the Rus" itself - illustrate the connection between history, myth and nation-formation from Napoleonic times to the present day.