Readers are offered a book by the famous modern historian S.V. Volkov, dedicated to our history, including the centuries-old Russian Empire, the seventy-year-old USSR and the 20-year-old "post-Soviet" statehood of the modern Russian Federation, and in the European and even world context. According to the author, the significance of historical being and in many ways the unique experience of the Russian Empire is enormous. Even if it is not destined to revive politically soon or never, the Russian Empire will remain a bright significant phenomenon in the history of world civilization, and its state experience will still become a role model and will delight people who are committed to the foundations on which the traditional world order was based. That is why her legacy, waiting for its researchers and apologists, is worthy of the most thorough study.