About the book: 1999 / What the general public knows about the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the General Staff of the Armed Forces - the most silent spy service of the Soviet Union, and now the Russian Federation ? Actually nothing. The author of this story, a reserve colonel who served in the Main Directorate for more than 30 years, talks with stunning truthfulness about the difficult service of military intelligence officers, about how some operational officers become heroes, while others choose the shameful path of betrayal and treason.