- Alexander Pushkin, the Great Russian author, was married to a great beauty named Natalie Gonchareva. Among her admirers was George d’Anthès, a young French officer. Their constant flirtation infuriated Pushkin and provoked the imminent duel. Wounded by d’Anthès, Pushkin perished two days later.

- Aleksandr takes you through the fateful day of the duel: from the gentleman’s toilette, through a sleigh-ride in the cold winter air and into the heady forests outside St. Petersburg…It travels, like a bullet in the air, from a cold shot of vodka to a warm fiery heart.

- In his novel Eugene Onegin, Pushkin described the dressing cabinet of a 19th century Russian gentleman filled with crystal perfume bottles, amber pipes from Turkey, silver grooming utensils and other costly merchandise from France and England.