About the book: 2009 / He was supposed to become a priest - but devoted his life to aviation. He experienced incredible ups, all-Union glory, power, honor - and terrible falls, “prison and scrip.” He is rightfully considered one of the greatest aircraft designers of the 20th century - but many of his projects never saw the sky. He created the best fighter of the Great Patriotic War - which was never put into mass production. And he died before reaching the Victory, barely turning sixty. It is not for nothing that historians have dubbed Nikolai Nikolayevich Polikarpov “the most tragic figure in the history of Soviet aviation.” This book is more than a simple description of the masterpieces of the brilliant aircraft designer. This is the best biography of the “king of fighters” to date, a portrait of a great man against the backdrop of a great era, a fascinating story about his dramatic fate, based on rare documents, many of which are published for the first time.