Sergei Pavlovich Krasikov's book "Near the Leaders" is unique in its own way. It explores the phenomenon of Kremlin leaders. The study is not speculative. It is based on the author's personal experience, his knowledge of the life of people behind the Kremlin wall. In the motley gallery of communist leaders, not only the first persons - Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko, Gorbachev, but also their inner circle. Having set himself the task of separating truth from libel, protecting all the good that was, and condemning the vile that caused the collapse of a great country, the author, without changing his principles, coped with it in his own way. And although not everything can be agreed with the author, the book does not lose its brightness from this, and this, perhaps, is its main advantage. The publication is widely illustrated with photographs from the archive of the author and many of his colleagues in the Kremlin service.