V.E. Semichastny partially wrote his memoirs, partially dictated shortly before his death. A whole man, convinced, uncompromising, he tried to comprehend in them both his own life and the history of the country, which served faithfully for about half a century. The book will reveal to the reader a lot of interesting things about the methods and style of work of the highest bodies of the Soviet state, the CPSU and the State Security Committee. It contains vivid characteristics of political figures of the USSR (N.S. Khrushcheva, L.M. Kaganovich, L.I. Brezhnev, Yu.V. Andropov, A.N. Shelepin) and outstanding Soviet intelligence officers (R.I. Abel and K.T. Molodogo), as well as interesting details about the Caribbean crisis of 1962, about the sensational "Penkovsky case," about the escape abroad of Stalin's daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva and much more.