This is a description of my life shown in a wide context. My narrative
is popular and interspersed with short stories and accompanied by a
Bibliography. These stories and many inserted details which are hardly
known even to my compatriots are interesting in themselves and ensure
some insight into the life of my generation. Many authors have dwelt on
the horrors of the GULAG; here, the readers will find the much less
known dread of living in the Soviet Union at large during the Stalinist
period. And I especially focus on the life of my nation.