The author began his service in the General Staff in 1940. From 1943 until the end of the war he served as head of the Operations Directorate. The book gives a clear idea of the conditions and content of the work of the General Staff in wartime. The reader is introduced to the laboratory of strategic planning, and the role of the Headquarters, the General Staff and the front command in developing plans for the most important operations and campaigns of the Great Patriotic War is revealed to him. People are well represented, including our prominent military leaders. The documentary basis of the book is very rich.