Rurikids

The Rurikid dynasty ruled Russia for seven and a half centuries. The fate of our country is inextricably intertwined with the fate of this family. Those who belonged to it had a significant influence on the politics, culture, faith, and everyday life of medieval Russia. Their names fill textbooks, films, and historical novels. Their picturesque images hang in art galleries and decorate the walls of churches. Historians still debate their deeds.
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The book offered for readers' attention includes more than thirty biographies. Among its heroes are outstanding statesmen and military leaders, revered Orthodox saints, and—alongside them—people who, at first glance, accomplished nothing remarkable in their lives. Some of them ruled small principalities; others held the title of grand princes and later tsars of Moscow and all Russia, governing vast territories. Yet it is through the biographies of these people, united in one book, that one can trace how the original Kievan principality transformed over several centuries into a different state—the one in which we live today—Russia.