Vasily Chapaev is one of the active participants in the Civil War in Russia, and these days he is known as the hero of numerous jokes. The true story of his life is intertwined with the famous film about him and is full of all sorts of fabrications. And, after all, before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Chapaev’s name was surrounded by an aura of heroism and selfless devotion to the cause of the revolution. The book, based on archival documents and previously published literature, but little known to the general reader, shows the military and life path of Vasily Ivanovich, who at the dawn of Soviet power was given an honorable place in the pantheon of revolutionary struggle.