About the book: 2015 / In 2015, Russia celebrates two memorable dates associated with one of the “fathers” of modern Russian democracy, A.A. Sobchak: in February there is the 15th anniversary of his death, in May there is the 25th anniversary of the beginning of his political activity. In the book presented to your attention, his assistant Yuri Shutov, who in the first half of the 1990s was a member of the “ St. Petersburg team" Sobchak, where, by the way, he worked side by side with Vladimir Putin. Later, Yu. Shutov parted company with the St. Petersburg people and took the position of chairman of the St. Petersburg Commission of the State Duma of the Russian Federation to analyze the results of privatization. In February 1999, he was arrested, and, despite the fact that the court acquitted him, he was arrested a second time right in the courtroom and later sentenced to life imprisonment. In December 2014, Shutov died in the White Swan prison for life prisoners. Yuri Shutov’s book tells how Anatoly Sobchak (the first mayor of St. Petersburg) and his team “went to power.” The author reveals the secrets of the behind-the-scenes political intrigues of Sobchak’s team, shows the mechanism for enriching the “St. Petersburg people” and the system of relationships between them. After reading the book, it becomes clear why the “St. Petersburg team” was able to occupy all the main positions in the leadership of Russia.