Russia, 1561. Tsar Ivan iv (the Terrible) is a sadistic brute. He is also a scholar, religious devotee, paranoid schizophrenic and a sex maniac. And Ivan is at war. Poland-Lithuania, his enemies to the west and the Crimean Tatars, his enemies to the south, threaten to dismantle the fragile empire Ivan is trying to assemble through a combination of brute force, diplomacy and marriage. But his most dangerous enemies are Russian. Two princely clans, the Yurievs and the Staritskii maneuver against the Tsar - and each other - to sow discord among the aristocracy and line up support for a coupe. But the Tsar has a secret weapon. His second wife, MARIA, a passionate, stupendous Circassian beauty from the Caucasus, pledges her allegiance only to Ivan, and they adore each other, despite Kremlin intrigues and Ivan's serial infidelities. Under Ivan and Maria, Russia expands its borders, introduces printing and builds a powerful economy linking the Far East with Europe. This is the hitherto untold story of Princess Maria Temrukovna and her seven-year reign as Empress of Russia.