In January 1598 the last tsar of an ancient dynasty died without an heir, and Russia discovered that it had no idea how to choose another. What followed was fifteen years of catastrophe so complete that Russians still call it simply the Smuta, the Troubles. A volcano erupted in Peru and the harvests failed across Muscovy for three years, killing perhaps a third of the population. A runaway monk crossed the frontier claiming to be a murdered prince and was crowned in the Kremlin. A boyar mu...