The book reveals the meaning of the most important events in the recent history of our Fatherland, its last two decades. These are years of a sharp turning point not only in the nature of the social structure of the country, but also in everyday life, when the Story, fluffing with a capital letter, visibly for everyone enters directly into personal life. The period in question covers events that are associated primarily with the names of Gorbachev, Yeltsin and Putin, their inner circle. And the main question that the author reflects on: will the second president of Russia V.V. Putin, having made a certain historical breakthrough, be able to stop the country's slide into a group of second-rate states in socio-economic terms, return it to its former, historically natural greatness? The proposed work will be interesting and useful not only to scientists, teachers and students studying the modern history of Russia, but also to all citizens who love their Fatherland.