The book, initiated by the Yegor Gaidar Foundation, presents 14 large-scale interviews with political figures who, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, became the first leaders of the newly independent states. Versions of events that radically changed the map of the world and the lives of millions of people are shared by Askar Akayev, Leonid Kravchuk, Vytautas Landsbergis, Stanislav Shushkevich, Mircea Snegur, Gennady Burbulis, Akezhan Kazhegeldin, Arnold Ruutel, Ivar Godmanis, Isa Gambar, Tengiz Sigua, Nazar Suyunov, Vazgen Manukyan and Akbarsho Iskandarov. Arkady Dubnov, a political scientist and expert on the countries of the former USSR, spoke with the leaders of the republics. For anyone interested in the political history of the twentieth century.