The hero of the book is a professional intelligence officer who has gone from an operative in our foreign stations to the head of the First Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR. He had the fate to head Soviet foreign intelligence during a period when the foundations of the Soviet Union were collapsing, to which both Western intelligence services and their accomplices within the country had a hand, who managed to create a “fifth column” with the direct connivance of the top leadership of the state. Years of difficult trials for L. V. Shebarshin - a patriot-statist, an exceptionally educated and intelligent person - turned into a time of painful worries about the fate of Russia and reflections on ways to overcome the severe crisis into which it was plunged. His condition was also aggravated by illness, which predetermined the tragic outcome of his life. The author provides new facts and information regarding the political events in which the hero of the book happened to participate. Reviewer: Doctor of Historical Sciences, Lieutenant General N. S. Leonov The publishing house expresses gratitude to the Russian National Economic Security Service for assistance in the preparation of this publication. information product mark 16 +