Was it possible to save the USSR? Redraw the map taking into account national interests, without dividing compatriots into different countries? The hero of Mikhail Popov’s novel, Academician Petukhov, believed that it was possible, and even prepared a rescue plan, but... he was killed. The reader of the next book in the “Cultural Detective” series will have to figure out the killer and, together with the author, speculate about whether our country could have had a different past. Another alternative story is told in the story “The Last Case of Sherlock Holmes.” The author suggests taking a fresh look at the image of the famous detective, and also finding out what Sherlock Holmes and Fyodor Dostoevsky have in common.