The foreign policy of the USSR in the second half of the 20th century has always been the subject of many discussions and fierce disputes. The abundance of conflicting opinions on this topic gave rise to a number of walking tales associated with both the figures of the main players of the Cold War and many key events of that time. In his new book, the famous Soviet historian E. Yu. Spitsyn reasonably gives a strictly scientific view of these most important pages of Soviet and world history, which many compatriots still associate with the best years of their lives. The author managed not only to find a lot of interesting facts and highlight little-known events of that era, but also to refute a lot of fakes associated with the Berlin and Middle East crises, the history of the creation of NATO and ATS, the events of the Hungarian rebellion and the Prague Spring, the Vietnam and Afghan wars, as well as the history of very difficult relations between the USSR, the USA and China. The publication will be interesting to all history lovers, students and teachers of universities, especially future diplomats and their mentors.