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Abstract: The review of the book “Isaac Babel. Life description” analyzes the first scientific biography of one of the brightest writers of the 20th century. The review provides an assessment of the general conception of the work and describes its wide source area and methodological solidity of the approach. It is stated that the analysis of the key events in Babel’s live is carried out in the book in the context of his creative individuality formation. Special attention is paid to the problem of a moral choice and the dramatic nature of the writer’s fate. It is concluded that the book does not only recreate the main landmarks of Babel’s life and the creative history of his literary work but also traces the correlation of the novelist’s biography with most complicated historical events and moral collisions of the epoch.