Seventeen biographical sketches present short and entertaining portraits in a language that is easily understandable for Russian learners. Natalija Nossowa introduces remarkable personalities from the past and present, highlighting situations and encounters from their lives that are connected to historical events and Russian characteristics. The content includes Akhmatova, Bulgakov, Khodorkovsky, Dostoevsky, Gagarin, Ivan the Terrible, Kandinsky, Kowalewskaya, Mamontov, Pavlov, Peter the Great, Pushkin, Rostropovich, Rublyov, Sakharov, Shostakovich, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Vladimir, and Mariya Volkonskaya.