In the history of wars, there are very few cases when a military operation is called by the name of the commander rather than by the place of its execution. The Brusilovsky breakthrough is one of these exceptions. It was as the" author " of the successful offensive of the Russian army in the summer of 1916 that General of the cavalry, hero of the First world war Alexey Alekseyevich Brusilov (1853-1926) entered history. The book of Brusilov, an outstanding commander who was distinguished by great personal courage — is not only the memoirs of a military specialist. A significant place is given to political events, especially in 1917: the unrest and the actual collapse of the army caused by the abdication of the throne and the Supreme command of Nicholas II, the conflicting positions of the generals, the aristocracy and politicians, which led to disastrous consequences for Russia.