He dreamed of becoming a teacher and agronomist, and graduated from a theological seminary and military school. The former seminarian went through two wars, the First World War and the Civil War, successfully established himself in the command path, but found his place in staff work. During the Great Patriotic War, A. M. Vasilevsky quickly rose to the top of the military Olympus. Being a prominent representative of the so-called “Shaposhnikov school”, he successfully led the “brains of the army” - the General Staff, which resolved issues of training and use of armed forces during military operations. Marshal Vasilevsky also showed the remarkable talent of a commander, a master of preparing, planning and conducting strategic and front-line operations. The book, based on a wide range of documentary sources and previously published literature, examines the creative laboratory of Marshal A. M. Vasilevsky, his contribution to achieving victory over Nazi Germany and militaristic Japan, to strengthen the defense capability of the Soviet Union.