Valentin Mikhailovich Falin is not just a high-ranking functionary, he is a symbol of the most valuable thing that we had in the Soviet era. A great politician and diplomat, a professional analyst, historian, art expert, he expressed his position equally directly in any audience — in the media, and the authorities, and in the scientific community. He did not Yule, did not hide behind other people's backs, did not change his position like a weather vane.About such as he says: "the era is gone." But that's not quite true. He was and remains in the memory of the people of that very era. This book of memory was written by his wife Nina Anatolievna and supplemented by essays of close friends.