About the book: year / This book is the memoirs of the Soviet illegal intelligence officer D.A. Bystroletov (Tolstoy) (1901–1975), - by his own definition , notes about a cruel, difficult and magnificent time. Dmitry Bystroletov was a unique person. A sailor and traveler, an artist and writer who spoke twenty foreign languages, a doctor of law and medicine, he was one of the best employees of the INO OGPUK - GUGB NKVD of the USSR, engaged in economic, military and political intelligence. A master of disguise, D.A. Bystroletov managed to penetrate the secrets of the British Foreign Ministry, obtain ciphers and codes of Austria, Germany, Italy, France and other states of the pre-war world. In 1938 he was repressed in his homeland. In 1954 he was released as disabled. Completely rehabilitated in 1956. For a wide range of readers, the name of D.A. Bystroletov was discovered by USSR foreign intelligence in 1990. This publication is equipped with an appendix and rare photographs.