The author of this book is twice Hero of the Soviet Union K.A. During the Great Patriotic War, Evstigneev scored 53 victories personally and 3 more in a group (this is the fifth result in Soviet aviation - only Kozhedub, Pokryshkin, Gulaev and Rechkalov shot down more). Moreover - a unique case - two enemy aircraft, Yu-88 and Me-109, Evstigneev “downed” in the very first air battle! And he himself was never shot down by the vaunted German aces - although, standing out for his dedication even among the desperate Stalinist falcons, he never shied away from battle and until the very end of the war did not avoid frontal attacks even against 6-gun Fokkers. It was not for nothing that his motto was Pushkin’s “There is rapture in battle!” Immediately after the Victory, Evstigneev was nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the third time, but the presentation was never approved. And the book of memoirs of the great pilot was pretty much “cut” by censorship. In this edition, these memoirs are printed without cuts.