Abstract
The note presents a review of the book “Tsars and Pretenders: The Struggle of Ideas in Russia during the Time of Troubles” by D. I. Antonov, which is dedicated to the review of the history of the Time of Troubles as the struggle of ideas from the point of view of cultural studies. Methodologically, D. I. Antonov positions his research as based on semiotic and phenomenological approaches and hermeneutical analysis of medieval texts. In particular, the author considers such subjects as the justification of the accession to the throne of Boris Godunov, myths associated with the personality of False Dmitry I, the crisis of the procedure of crucifixion and a number of other nuances associated with the struggle of ideas during the Time of Troubles and reflected in the works of contemporaries of those events. This book is undoubtedly a qualitative study, which has made significant adjustments in understanding the ideological processes that took place during the Time of Troubles. However, to the work of D. I. Antonov we can make some remarks, the main of which is that he has not analyzed the whole complex of ideas that existed and opposed each other during the Time of Troubles. In this regard, it seems advisable to continue the research work in the key set by D. I. Antonov.