The history of the creation and combat path of the legendary Normandy-Niemen air regiment, which became a symbol of the alliance, is based on French and Soviet archival documents, including those that have become available recently, as well as on the memoirs of the pilots themselves. From the book by S.V. Dybov you will learn: - how the decision was made to create a French military unit on the Soviet front and how the squadron grew to a regiment, and later to a division; - why de Gaulle, negotiating with Britain, nevertheless decided to send military units of the Free French "to the Soviet Union; - why, of all the Franco-Soviet projects, only the project of sending pilots took place, and the infantry brigade formed from French prisoners never appeared on the Soviet front; - why the USSR, having accepted the pilots, refused French mechanics; - why to the air regiment willingly took people from white emigrant families, including from noble families of prominent opponents of Bolshevism; - why the Bretagne air regiment never arrived in the USSR and the Paris air regiment was disbanded; - why the USSR refused to arm the French Air Force with Yak-3 aircraft and who from the famous pilots after the war he became a Soviet intelligence officer; - why did Stalin insist on the figure of de Gaulle even after the allies had already replaced him with General Giraud?