The authors of this book are the largest world politicians of the 20th century: Willy Brandt was Federal Chancellor of Germany in 1969–1974; Henry Kissinger was US National Security Advisor from 1969 to 1975 and US Secretary of State from 1973 to 1977; Valery Giscard d'Estaing served as President of France in 1974–1981. All of them maintained relations with the USSR during the reign of L.I. Brezhnev, met with the Soviet leader several times. In their memoirs, they write a lot about his politics and diplomacy, showing Brezhnev’s personality from different angles. Each of them has their own assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of Leonid Brezhnev as a leader of state and a person, while the memoirs of W. Brandt, G. Kissinger and J. d'Estaing reflect the evolution of Brezhnev and his policies over almost twenty years in power .