The first volume of the 30-volume collected works of A.I. Solzhenitsyn is a complete collection of his stories and “bits”. Early stories blew up the literary and social life of the 60s, made the author's name world famous, and the names of his literary heroes household names. Having turned to the large form - “In the First Circle”, “Cancer Ward”, “The Gulag Archipelago”, “The Red Wheel” - the author only a quarter of a century later returned to the short story genre, significantly transforming it. The texts are provided with extensive comments that will allow the reader to experience in detail the historical and everyday context of the time.