Book of historian and writer Astapenko M.P. "Vikhor-ataman" is dedicated to the life and work of the most outstanding and European-famous Cossack of Russia - Matvey Ivanovich Platov, hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, cavalry general, count of the Russian Empire. His biography incorporated events, each of which made up an era in the life of Europe and Asia: the Russian-Turkish wars of the second half of the 18th century, the Persian campaign of 1796, the Napoleonic wars of 1805-1807, the Patriotic War of 1812, the overseas campaigns of the Russian army, which ended with the capture of Paris in 1814. All these wars and battles ataman Platov and his Cossacks passed with brilliance, "thinking not about life, but about the honor and glory of Russia."