This book, written by the world famous great Russian artist Ilya Sergeyevich Glazunov, is largely autobiographical. The author tells in it not only about pre-war childhood, the terrible days of the Leningrad blockade, about the beginning of the path and the formation of the future artist, but also about our tragic time, about his understanding of creativity and art, about his views on the history of Russia, which he endlessly loved. The artist, historian and thinker in a new way illuminates the silent and deliberately forgotten pages of Russian history and also introduces us to his discovery of many countries of the world, where he had to visit at the invitation of kings, presidents and stars of world culture.