This book is a collection of biographical stories of the twelve Russian military leaders of the 16th-17th centuries. Voevodes had superseded Russian princes in battle in their historic mission of defending and extending the Russian state up to the time of the formation of the Russian regular army. Some of these soldiers are well known historical figures, such as Ivan Shuiskii or Dmitrii Pozharskii, the others are less familiar to a wide audience: Daniil Shchenia, Mikhail and Aleksei Shein, etc.