Checkmate! This could be said at the time of the death of one of the cruelest rulers of Europe, Ivan the Terrible. The ruthless and domineering Tsar of Russia died - as legend has it - during a game of chess.

It is said that being the ruler of Russia is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Daggers in the back, bullets in the head and mysterious diseases were commonplace at the Moscow court. Mariusz Samp's book shows what the last moments of the most famous Russian rulers were like. One died in terrible agony, another drank himself to death, and yet another was killed by a Pole. Not to mention Stalin, who died for several hours with his pants covered in urine.

The author describes the last days of cruel people in an extremely vivid way. They have one thing in common - they were all rulers of Russia.

Mariusz Samp was born in 1990, is a young Polish historian specializing in medieval and military history.

"Mariusz Samp, without beating around the bush, tells us what Russia used to be and what price people at the top of power paid for the slightest mistake. This book absorbs you from the first to the last page."

Kamil Janicki, historian, publicist, author of the book Pańszczyzna

"Centuries pass, regimes change, but in Russia, the change of power is often accompanied by death, often in mysterious circumstances. Mariusz Samp in his book shows that despite the passage of hundreds of years. Russia still says goodbye to its rulers suddenly and somberly."

Paweł Czernich, Onet journalist

The above description comes from the publisher.