M. Kuraev's new book restores the dates and events "_forgotten"_ and deleted from our civil calendar: historical essays on the capture of Paris (1813), the abolition of serfdom (1861), the assassination of Alexander II (1881), the February Revolution (1917), the launch in our country of the most powerful for its the time in Europe of the hydroelectric power station on the Volkhov (1926), essays on Protopope Avvakum (XVII century)... A special place in the book of Kuraev, a resident of besieged Leningrad, is occupied by testimonies about the life and everyday exploits of Leningraders during the blockade. The essays composing the book, which were significantly revised for the book edition, were mostly published in the magazines Zvezda, Neva, Literaturnaya Gazeta and St. Petersburg Vedomosti.