The Soviet Union was a powerful superpower - it successfully resisted not only the United States, but the entire Western coalition. The USSR dynamically developed its economy and achieved tremendous achievements in the field of science and technology; As for the benefits available to the population, the Soviet Union was in some ways inferior to the capitalist countries, but in many ways it was superior to them. How did it happen that it collapsed? A new book by the famous writer-historian Valery Shambarov tells about hidden processes in the Soviet leadership and society, subversive influences, the formation and activities of the “fifth columns”.