The book by Natalia Leonidovna Trauberg (1928-2009) — the most famous translator of G. K. Chesterton, K. S. Lewis, P. G. Wodehouse — is a collection of articles united by the experience of opposing totalitarianism and lack of spirituality. The essays placed in the book are a lesson in free communication, sincere, sympathetic and interested. Among those described by the author are Fr. Alexander Men, S. S. Averintsev, Thomas Venclova, Fr. Georgy Chistyakov and many others. From the author's foreword: "The book contains various articles and notes, in one form or another — reflections, but much more stories about what Pushkin called "strange rapprochements". When these stories appeared in magazines, they were invariably considered memoirs. I am afraid of memoirs for several reasons-it is the temptation of ruthlessness, the temptation of self-praise, the failure of memory, and, finally, the fact that "we do not know the whole truth". I wanted not so much to share my memories, but to comfort and even please the readers, reminding them of everyday miracles that show that we are not alone, and we are not in a meaningless world."