The book of memoirs was written by a famous professional Russian diplomat, with the rank of ambassador, who worked in the capitals of the leading countries of the world - France, the USA, Spain, and the representative of the USSR to the UN. It reveals many little-known or completely unknown pages of recent history, such as the preparation of the Helsinki Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, the position of France and President Mitterrand in relation to the events of August 1991 in the USSR. The author also describes his numerous meetings with representatives of the intellectual and artistic elite.