The Cold War is a well-known historical event, but few people know the names of those thanks to whom it did not become the third world war. Silo-based intercontinental ballistic missiles equipped with a nuclear charge were rapidly developed in the Soviet Union in the second half of the twentieth century, and it was they that formed the basis of our country’s nuclear shield. One of those who devoted his life to ensuring that the USSR achieved nuclear parity with the United States was outstanding Soviet engineer and organizer, rocketry designer M.K. Yangel. For a long time, the name of this man was kept secret, and his contribution to engineering was not appreciated. Intense searches, brilliant victories and heavy defeats - all this is the story of M.K. Yangel, the history of Soviet rocketry, the history of the triumph of domestic technical thought, the story of how man conquered space and created the most powerful weapon known today.