This book is a course of lectures that the author has been giving for more than thirty years at the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary. The book covers two periods - from 1917 to 1927 ("Church in Persecution") and from 1927 to 1958 ("Church in Captivity"). Being a "lively" course of lectures, the book retains a polemically sharp, often emotional and journalistically harsh style of presentation of the material. She encourages the reader to reflect and empathize with the author. The book is addressed to students of theological seminaries, priests and laity, as well as to everyone interested in Russian history.