V. S. Grossman is one of the most famous Russian writers of the 20th century. In the pre- and post-war years, he found himself at the epicenter of literary and political intrigue, miraculously escaping arrest. In 1961, the manuscripts of the novel “Life and Fate” were confiscated by the KGB by order of the CPSU Central Committee. A quarter of a century later, when the book, published abroad, was translated into European languages, world fame came. However, intrigues in connection with the writer’s legacy continued. Now not only Soviet ones. The authors reconstruct the writer’s biography, simultaneously eliminating existing “myths.” In preparing the publication, documents from the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History, the Russian State Archive of Contemporary History, and the Central Archive of the Federal Security Service were used. The book is intended for historians, philologists, political scientists, journalists, as well as everyone interested in Russian history and literature XX century.