The book contains portraits of the leaders of Soviet and Russian political intelligence, starting with the first head of the Foreign Department of the Cheka and ending with the current director of the Foreign Intelligence Service. Among them there are such famous people as Vladimir Kryuchkov, Leonid Shebarshin and Yevgeny Primakov, and those whose achievements and failures are known only to professionals. Writer-historian and TV presenter Leonid Mlechin opens new pages in the dramatic history of domestic intelligence: what were the reasons for Richard’s failure Sorge, what is the true story of Stirlitz, what kind of secret is hidden behind the murder of the Soviet resident in China.