This book speaks of the hetman Bogdan-Zinovy ​ ​ Khmelnitsky. But this is not a traditional biography. The author in the first part talks about how the image of this Cossack leader was interpreted in Ukrainian, Polish, Russian, Jewish, Turkish and Tatar cultures. It is shown how the mythologization of this historical figure took place. The second part of the book is an attempt to present an unmythologized biography of Khmelnitsky, to reflect his activities both in a broad geopolitical context and in the context of events on the Ukrainian lands of the first half and the middle of the 17th century. The question of what real consequences Khmelnitsky had for Ukrainian lands and for Europe as a whole is also considered.