The book by the famous historian, who headed the archival service of Russia in 1990–1996, presents the largely unknown political history of the country - from the end of the Great Patriotic War to the end of the Soviet Union, based primarily on archival documents, including previously inaccessible materials from the archives of the former Politburo and the Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee, from the funds of the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation, etc., as well as numerous memoirs of modern times. The course of the political process, the mechanism for making the most important political decisions in the country, and the activities of the highest echelon of power are examined.