This book is dedicated to the fate and work of M. Yu. Lermontov in the last, most significant period of his life (1838-1841). Based on many years of archival research, the author acquaints the reader with the central problems of the poet's social biography, with his friends and enemies, with the social life of that era, clarifies Lermontov's relationship with the court, with secular society, with the opposition circle of aristocratic youth ("Circle of Sixteen").