Vladimir Karpov is a well-known Russian writer, laureate of state and international prizes, an academician, author of many books, including popular ones both in our country and abroad—“Commander-in-Chief” and “Marshal Zhukov.” His works are distinguished by high artistic quality and deep investigative thoroughness based on documents. Karpov took part in the war, was a two-time Hero of the Soviet Union, graduated from two military academies and the Gorky Literary Institute, worked in the General Staff (even during Stalin’s time). These experiences allowed him to create a fundamental, objective work (without embellishment or defamation) about the greatest historical figure of the 20th century, Generalissimo I. V. Stalin.