"Only fools learn from their mistakes - smart ones learn from strangers!" - said Bismarck. What lessons did the Great Patriotic War teach us and why are they so relevant to this day? Against whom did the Stalinist USSR really fight - against the Third Reich or the whole of Europe? Who was the main "arsonist" of the world fire - Hitler or Churchill? What is the main reason for our defeats and monstrous losses of 1941 and is the repetition of the tragedy threatening today? And if, God forbid, tomorrow there is war again - has today's Russia learned the lessons of World War II? Are we capable. following the example of grandfathers, defend your homeland? Answering the main questions of history, this book proves: everything was completely different. how textbooks lie!