Written by an Englishwoman, this book is interesting to the domestic reader as a free from ideological dogmas, a balanced and objective view of Russian history from the West. Good knowledge of the material, strict adherence to historical sources, logic, attention to detail and rational thinking allowed the author to create the most valuable work, drawing a wide historical panorama of Russia during the reign of Ivan the Terrible and giving a picturesque portrait of the tsar himself - a man and a great statesman.