What was Gorbachev doing on three days in August 1991? What and why did the conspirators not agree on on the decisive night of the coup? What did the investigation into the State Emergency Committee case, which was conducted by the prosecutor’s office under the leadership of the first Prosecutor General of Russia Valentin Stepankov, reveal? Why were the high-ranking officials, organizers of the August events, arrested and prosecuted, given amnesty? The reader will find answers to these and other questions in the book, the author of which, based on investigation materials and personal observations, proves that 30 years ago the country was faced with a real conspiracy , which tragically changed her fate.