About the book: 2017 / This outstanding statesman and political figure has had and continues to have a significant influence on the world. However, many of his actions should be assessed as criminal towards society and people. Almost single-handedly ruling the largest state on the planet for thirty years, he consistently led Russia and its people into a historical impasse, the way out of which was paid for and will continue to be paid for for a long time with incalculable human sacrifices. But it is no less true that in many cases his contradictory behavior was caused by the fact that historical circumstances constantly placed him in conditions in which a normal person could not survive, either politically or physically.