Secrets of the palace kitchen and palace coups, the everyday life of the College of Foreign Affairs and the Office at Court, behind-the-scenes clashes among the first dignitaries of the Imperial Court, and the intimate life of Russian courtiers—this, and much more, is what young Moscow historian K.A. Pисаренко tells in his book. Armed with archival documents unknown until now, he recreates the life of the Elizabethan era in all its diversity, as it truly was—while also refuting numerous myths that exist in historiography and in everyday consciousness. At the center of the narrative is the figure of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, whose secret has not been solved to this day.