The book “The Rudder of History” is a collection of journalistic articles and essays by the famous orientalist and writer V. M. Rybakov, published in recent years in periodicals, primarily in the Neva magazine. In a number of these articles, the results of the author’s cultural studies in the field of the history of traditional China are used to look at the history of Russia and the current Russian reality from different angles. This same historical experience is interpreted by the author in other articles as a science fiction writer, accustomed to looking at the present from the future, foreseeing variants of development trends and dividing them into more or less probable ones. A unique combination of historical, cultural and futurological analysis skills allows the author to see behind the specifics of today's little things, behind the topic of the day, the manifestations of long-term historical trends and speak out convincingly, vividly and originally. The book is intended for the general reader.