Vladimir Pozner wrote the book “Farewell to Illusions” twenty-one years ago. Wrote in English. In the United States, it spent twelve weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Posner believed that he would immediately translate his book into Russian, but, as he said: “It was too difficult for me, I’ll wait a little.” I waited eighteen years - the translation was completed in 2008. For another three years he thought about how to reflect these past years in the manuscript. And only now, according to the author, the time has come to publish the Russian version of the book “Farewell to Illusions.” This is not just the memoirs of a man with a very complex, but truly dizzying fate: Posner was born in Paris, spent his childhood in New York and only at the age of 18 came to Moscow for the first time. Desperately wanting to become Russian, he is still trying to figure out who he is and where his real homeland is. The book is interesting because Vladimir Pozner saw many of the major events of the 20th century “from different sides of the barricades” and is able to talk about it in a fascinating and very poignant way. But the main thing is that he tries to soberly and impartially assess Russia, America and Europe. Posner knows from the inside our and Western television, the political behind the scenes and the life of the elites. For the first time in Russian literature of the 21st century, the author decides to honestly reflect on issues of national identity, religion, politics and the characteristics of the Russian mentality. This book will certainly change our attitude towards memoirs, since before this no one wrote about their life, country and our era with such frankness, irony and depth.