Readers are presented with the memoirs of a prominent party and statesman Alexei Egorovich Badaev (1883-1951), telling about the revolutionary events taking place in the last years of the existence of tsarist power. Relying on archival documents, materials of periodicals and shorthand recordings of meetings, the author describes one of the most intense periods of the revolutionary struggle (1912-1914). With documentary accuracy, he revealed the peculiarities of the election campaign in the State Duma, noted the key moments of the activities of the Social Democratic faction, showed the confrontation between the Bolshevik and Menshevik parties and the policy pursued by the Bolsheviks on the eve of the imperialist war with Germany. Due to the large amount of valuable historical material, A.E. Badaev's book is still considered an encyclopedia of the political life of the Bolshevik party in the last pre-revolutionary years.