Who was the first in Russia to start solving the issues of the struggle for power through political killings? With whose help was Vladimir Monomakh going to conquer Byzantium? When was the first Rus raid on Constantinople? Where does the European form of fixing events come from Russian chronicles? When did the new year begin in Ancient Russia? These and other questions, with the involvement of a large documentary material, are answered in his new book by the historian-journalist Yuri Zvyagin.