The monograph examines ideas about the communist future developed within the framework of official discourse and in the minds of Soviet citizens. Based on a wide range of sources - official documents, media materials, literary texts, letters to authorities and folklore - a number of images of a “bright future” have been identified. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the III Program of the CPSU, which proclaimed the course towards “the extensive construction of communism.” Based on a wide range of methodological approaches, the work goes beyond the scope of political history, offering a new perspective on the history of the CPSU and the period at the turn of the 1950s–1960s. The book is intended for specialist historians and for a wide range of readers interested in Soviet history. In PDF A4 format The publishing layout has been preserved.