A unique study by ethnographer William Cresson is devoted to the history of the Cossacks. Based on the works of historians, Cossack songs, legends and legends, the author considers the concepts of the emergence of this Russian-speaking subethnos in the Don and Dnieper steppes, describes life, culture, features of serving in the Don and border troops. A separate chapter is devoted to the Zaporizhzhya Sich and its free-loving brotherhood. The author masterfully conveys the story of the Cossacks writing a letter to the Turkish Sultan, which served as the plot for the famous painting by I.E. Repin, and cites the letter itself - a vivid example of original Cossack creativity. The narrative is complemented by historical portraits of Cossack leaders: Siberian conqueror Yermak, hetmans Bogdan Khmelnitsky and Ivan Mazepa, rebel Emelyan Pugachev and heroic chieftain M.I. Platov. Of particular interest are essays devoted to the Cossacks of the borderland: Kuban, Terets, Grebets, Astrakhan, Urals and Orenburg.