For most of their colorful political careers, Gorbachev and Yeltsin waged an irreconcilable struggle with each other. However, both of them tried to transform our country, and to a large extent they succeeded. The debate about what they ultimately did and whether it was worth undertaking transformations that cost so much at all continues. And it is unlikely that our society will come to a consensus in the near future regarding their role in the fate of the country. Some people hate Gorbachev and Yeltsin from the bottom of their hearts and consider both to be the culprits of the destruction of a great state and a familiar and calm life. Others admire their courage: the two presidents fulfilled their historical mission - they returned Russia to the natural path of development. Leonid Mlechin’s new book is an attempt to understand what caused the collapse of the Soviet Union, why the result of Gorbachev and Yeltsin’s reforms turned out to be far from what we expected. which their authors expected, and why the new nomenclature does not strive for real changes.