The historical novel by the well-known émigré writer P. N. Krasnov tells about events that took place in Russia in the second half of the 19th century. The focus of the author is the life and fate of Emperor Alexander II.
Describing the attempts of the Narodnaya Volya (People’s Will) to eliminate Alexander II, P. N. Krasnov portrays a type of revolutionary who brings to life what the heroes of Dostoevsky’s novel "Demons" once preached. The novel was first published in Paris in 1938.