The book is a documentary narrative about the life and work of a person whose name is associated with a whole era in the history of Russia - Count Alexei Andreevich Arakcheev (1769-1834). On the basis of documents, most of which are extracted from 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 - first quarter of the 19th centuries is given, the secret springs of its elevation, the true meaning of the phenomenon called "Arakcheevshchina" are revealed. The colorful personality of Arakcheev is drawn against the background of the events of that time, in relations with emperors Paul I, Alexander I and Nicholas I, as well as prominent Russian dignitaries and generals: P.I. Melissino, M.M. Speransky, P.I. Bagration, M.B. Barclay de Tolly and others.