Vyacheslav Molotov’s life is inseparably linked with the history of the USSR. He worked with Lenin, was a member of the Military-Revolutionary Committee for preparing the October Armed Uprising in Petrograd, Deputy Chairman of the State Defense Committee during the Great Patriotic War, held high positions in the party and the government. From 1939 to 1956, he led our foreign policy; he met almost all major figures of the 20th century.
For 17 years, Felix Chuev met regularly with Vyacheslav Molotov—140 conversations, each lasting 4–5 hours. What is included in this book is not Molotov’s memoirs, but a living conversation. He spoke, not dictated. Many judgments were quite difficult to “extract” at first; some episodes he didn’t reveal the first time, and they had to be revisited after 5, 10, 15 years...