About the book: 2017 / The new book of the famous writer Lev Berdnikov presents a panorama of the life of Russian Jewry in the 15th – early 20th centuries. The fates of the Jews, whose literary portraits are offered to the reader, are presented against the broad background of the socio-political and cultural life of the changing eras of the reign of the Russian crowned rulers. Were the Jews in Russia perceived as full citizens or as alien strangers? Who did the Jews themselves feel at the same time, including those of them who left the faith of their fathers and made the sign of the cross? The author is convinced that there is no clear answer to these questions - and his conclusions are even more convincing.