About the book: 2014 / To the 100th anniversary of Yu.V. Andropova. A fundamental biography of the most “secret” and “paradoxical” leader of the USSR, who led the country for only 15 months, but, according to sociological surveys, it is his people who consider him the best ruler in Soviet history. Having served in state security agencies “from Andropov to Putin,” the author applies his professional skills to a comprehensive analysis of this turning point era and the “Andropov phenomenon.” The enemies of the USSR call his rule “enlightened totalitarianism.” “There was order!” - Soviet people remember him with kind words. “The most informed and intelligent leader since Lenin” was declared by Time magazine, which chose Andropov as “man of the year.” “A strong national leader, who saw systemic problems and ways to solve them, through competent reforms would not have allowed the collapse of the Soviet Union” - such assessments are not uncommon even from the lips of the current “elite”. And only Gorbachev, whom Yuri Vladimirovich brought to power, is perplexed: “What did Andropov do so special for the country?!” Answering the question of the “gravedigger of the USSR,” this book pays tribute to the great statesman who could save the Super-Power, but - this is the paradox of history! – unwittingly paved the way for the perpetrators of the “Great Geopolitical Catastrophe”».