Isaak Dunaevsky is a symbol of the Soviet era, the creator of “Soviet Broadway”, who managed to forge the most tender waltzes and hit marches from the crucible of the industrialization era: “Wide is my native country”, “My dear capital”, songs from “Jolly Fellows”. In reality, the life of a successful composer is far from Soviet cliches and full of unexpected turns. Behind the screen of gaiety was a man suffering from love for two, and sometimes three women at the same time; the book publishes his secret letters for the first time. Was Dunaevsky a victim of the era or its hero? How did he compose his harmonies? The author, the famous playwright and theater figure Dmitry Minchenok, dissects the life of a genius through thin sections of meetings with Shostakovich, Stalin, Chkalov, friendships with Lyubov Orlova, Leonid Utesov, etc. and derives a certain recipe for success for creative individuals, applicable and to modern times. The book is based on many years of friendly conversations between the author and the composer’s sons Evgeny and Maxim Dunaevsky, as well as his daughter-in-law Rimma Dunaevskaya.