The purpose of this book is to debunk the myth of Shevchenko. You will learn about a completely different Kobzar—not a genius and a saint, but an alcoholic and a jealous man. A clumsy ladies’ man who takes gifts from a former fiancée. A guardian of morals who spies on a friend’s wife. And a repentant “revolutionary” who begs the authorities for forgiveness. This dark side of Taras was always carefully hidden. But it exists. He was exactly like this—in his diaries, letters, and dozens of memoir testimonies that were not reprinted after 1917. I begin where others ended.