Founded by a disreputable charlatan in 1776, the Bolshoi became a point of pride for the tsarist empire after the defeat of Napoleon in 1812, and as Moscow grew in importance, so did the troupe and the theater. During the Soviet years, the Bolshoi was a key site of power and a propaganda tool, even as its dancers suffered to climb the ranks, sometimes for so little money that they kept cows at home whose milk they could sell for food. With exclusive access to state archives and private sources, Simon Morrison recounts the tumultuous history of the storied ballet, describing the careers of those onstage as well as off, tracing the political ties that bind the institution to the varying Russian regimes, and detailing the birth of some of the best-loved ballets in the repertoire.