The life of Russian emperors continues to interest both historians and wide circles of readers. Nicholas I, who began his reign with blood - reprisals against the Decembrists and blood and ended it with the death of hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers, the best naval commanders and military leaders in the inglorious Crimean War - a personality in the history of Russia, according to the author of this book, odious. The form of psychological studies chosen for this study allows the reader to imagine the monarch in his various guises and evaluate the results of his 30-year reign. The publication is designed for the general reader.