Movement along the path of perestroika means denial of what led to the deformation of socialism. Lessons and bitter experience of harsh folk drama, cleansing society of the legacy of Stalinism, an attempt to scientifically find out its nature, find the optimal path of development, a return to Lenin's understanding of socialism - these problems are considered from various angles by the authors of the book, known to Soviet readers from their speeches in periodicals. Designed for the general reader.