The book by the Pulitzer Prize winner, a prominent American diplomat, ambassador to the USSR from 1954 to 1963, analyst, Sovietologist, author of numerous works on American diplomacy and foreign policy, tells about a difficult period of world peace in Europe from the point of view of the development of the situation in Europe. history: the eve of World War II, major military conflicts, the post-war redistribution of Europe and the confrontation between two political systems. The author presents his opinion on what was happening, gives vivid, although partly controversial, portraits of Joseph Stalin and Franklin Roosevelt, other prominent political figures, and introduces personal development forecasts Russia after the war, makes interesting sketches from the life of Stalin's entourage and employees of foreign diplomatic missions.