What will most readers remember first when they hear the coined surname “Mannerheim”? A vague mention of the “Mannerheim Line” from a history textbook related to the Soviet-Finnish War. And what kind of “Line” is this, who, when and why built it, and why the war broke out between Finland and the USSR - until very recently, our country preferred not to talk about this in detail... A book of memoirs of an outstanding statesman and military figure of Finland , which had a great influence on the political life of all of Europe in the first half of our century, sheds light on many other difficult moments in Russia’s relationship with its northern neighbor, opens up little-known pages of recent history. Big politics and secret diplomacy, battles and travel to exotic countries - all this there was a place in the memoirs of a man who lived for almost a century.