Memoirs of the revolutionary and publicist Vasily Vasilyevich Vodovozov (1864–1933), covering the period from the 1880s to the end of 1917, are published for the first time. Starting with colorful descriptions of life in prison and exile, the memoirist talks about the history of his participation in the liberation movement, cooperation with newspapers and magazines of a democratic trend, activities in the Labor faction of the State Duma, as well as relations with political figures of that time. Among V.V. Vodovozov’s acquaintances were N.A. Berdyaev, S.N. Bulgakov, E.V. Tarle, priest G.A. Gapon, A.V. Lunacharsky and A.F. Kerensky. Of particular interest is the critical portrait of V. I. Lenin, with whom the author closely communicated in his youth. As a supplement, the book presents a diary from 1919–1920, describing the dramatic life of Soviet Petrograd: ration cards, shortages of firewood, clothing and food, searches and repressions. The afterword traces Vodovozov's further life path, which ended with a tragic death in exile.