Polls show that Yuri Gagarin is the protagonist of Russian history of the twentieth century. Lev Danilkin's "Yuri Gagarin" is an attempt to "finally," if possible, close all the gaps in the biography of "Red Icarus"; chronicle of life - and understanding what the myth of Gagarin and the idea of ​ ​ "Gagarin" represent. Interviews with eyewitnesses and revision of Russian and foreign sources helped the author answer basic questions. Is Gagarin just the embodiment of Soviet design - or was he really the owner of some unique qualities? What really happened on April 12, 1961? How did the first astronaut cope with "gagarinomania" - the status of the most famous person on the planet? What is Gagarin: a product of the system and the era - or its mirror and justification? Was there a conflict between him and the political leadership of the USSR? What is the real reason for his death? Was his success only luck, the result of conscious life-building - or the realization of some higher plan? What would happen to Gagarin and the USSR - the "first citizen of the Universe" did not die in March 1968 and he survived to this day?