Before you is a historical encyclopedia covering absolutely all aspects of the life of the "world's first socialist state" - the USSR. On its pages are biographies of commanders and politicians, cultural and art workers, scientists, athletes, party and economic functionaries - everyone who made up the elite of their time. Here are the victims of Stalinist repressions, and those whose hands carried out these repressions. This reference book is the first in which such a wide section of the country's history is presented through the biographies of its "first persons."