Polls show that Yuri Gagarin is the main hero of Russian history of the twentieth century. “Yuri Gagarin” by Lev Danilkin is an attempt at a “final”, if possible, closing all the gaps in the biography of the “red Icarus”; a chronicle of life – and an understanding of what the myth of Gagarin and the idea of “Gagarin” represent. Interviews with eyewitnesses and a revision of Russian and foreign sources helped the author answer basic questions. Is Gagarin just an embodiment of Soviet design - or did he actually have some unique qualities? What really happened on April 12, 1961? How did the first cosmonaut cope with “gagarinomania” – the status of the most famous person on the planet? What is Gagarin: a product of the system and era - or its mirror and justification? Was there a conflict between him and the political leadership of the USSR? What is the real reason for his death? Was his success just luck, the result of conscious life-building - or the implementation of some higher plan? What would have happened to Gagarin and the USSR if the “first citizen of the Universe” had not died in March 1968 and lived to this day?