These celestial giants lived a short but bright life. These colossi were the pride of the USSR, the calling card of the young Soviet civilization. In the 1930s, many countries tried to build huge aircraft, but domestic aircraft designers achieved the greatest success. Such giants as the six-engine TB-4 and K-7, the eight-engine Maxim Gorky and the twelve-engine G-1 still amaze the imagination. The armadas of these air Leviathans were, if necessary, to bombard and pour poisonous chemicals on any enemy, and then deliver landing forces with tanks, vehicles, and artillery to his rear - this was the strategic concept of the Soviet Air Force in the early 1930s. Why did these plans remain so? on paper? Why was the age of giant aircraft so short-lived? Why did they not live up to the expectations placed on them and did not play any significant role in the Second World War? A new book by a leading aviation historian answers all these questions.