About the book: 2008 / Alexander Vasilyevich Gorbatov went through a difficult path from a soldier in the tsarist army to the commander of the military district of the Soviet Armed Forces and the commander-in-chief of the newest branch at that time troops - air force. In his book, the legendary general talks about the sharp turns of fate and the trials that befell him. A poor, half-starved childhood, Stalinist repressions, years of torture and imprisonment, the death of comrades at the front... The talented military leader has many victories, the importance of which for our country is difficult to overestimate. These include battles on the Southwestern Front (1941–1942), the liberation of Orel (1943), the East Prussian and Berlin operations (1945), and many other battles. Gorbatov recalls with special warmth and love the discoveries of his enthusiastic youth, bright episodes of military service - it was from these fragments that the life of a man who was destined to play an important role in the military history of the Fatherland was formed.