A global synopsis of all the achievements and abominations, nobility and meanness, stupidity and wisdom, chaos and space of the bygone twentieth century. In the insights of Russian poets. In the discoveries of scientists. In the predictions of science fiction writers. In the tragedies of wars and revolutions. In the history of the creation of the atomic bomb... Alexander Katsura's novel is an unexpected and powerful literary phenomenon. It contains a lot of fundamental and interesting information about the key figures and processes of the twentieth century - nuclear physicists and intelligence officers, politicians and writers. This is a philosophical analysis of the era in the grandiose web of its connections. Mikhail Weller, the author managed, within the confines of one, albeit rather voluminous, work, clinging to perhaps the most important problem of the 20th century - the creation of an all-destructive weapon capable of destroying humanity - to talk about the fate and vectors of development of humanity in the main directions: cultural, political, economic and, most importantly, spiritual. Valery Genkin, writer, editor-in-chief of the TEXT publishing house