Moscow journalist V.N. Ilyinsky talks in this book about the birth and development of state awards for labor achievements. Their biography is closely linked to the history of the first socialist state. The book is a kind of chronicle of the labor heroism of the Soviet people - from the first communist subbotniks to the mass movement for communist labor. The reader will find an interesting story about the heroes of labor, about glorious traditions born of the enthusiasm of the Soviet people. The book is designed for the general reader.