The novel “The Other Day” by Alexander Beck (1903–1972) could not be published during the lifetime of its famous author. In defiance of censorship and social stagnation, the writer, back in the 60s of the last century, bravely undertook an objective study of the Stalinist phenomenon. Having studied a huge amount of archival materials, conducting hundreds of conversations with participants and witnesses of revolutionary events who came out of the Gulag camps, Bek created a problematic novel about the power and charisma of the leader. The novel is smart. Roman is talented. The strict authenticity of the document is organically combined with the daring paradoxes of imagination and generalization.