In the autumn of 1964, as a result of a government coup, Nikita Khrushchev, from the almighty master of the largest country in the world, suddenly turned into a pensioner forgotten by everyone. With shame and curses, he was expelled from the Kremlin. At the direction of the new leadership, headed by Leonid Brezhnev, the name of Khrushchev was deleted from history. But two years after the resignation, the former secretary general decided on a daring and risky step - he began to dictate his memories and thoughts on the tape recorder. What was he counting on? Who better than Khrushchev to know that those who replaced him would never allow the thoughts of the former leader of a great power to be heard in the country and in the world. Perhaps he hoped for a change - Perhaps, like in many other ways, he also wanted to be the first here - Khrushchev could leave written memories, but he understood that their reliability would always be in doubt. And he chose another option. These tapes with his voice were miraculously preserved. And the time has come when they can be heard - What Khrushchev said almost half a century ago, and even what he was silent about, is extremely important both for history and for today. In his memoirs - paradoxical logic and hidden springs of development of one of the most difficult periods of the twentieth century.