The novel describes the life and adventures of two representatives of the Brannikov family, who were born with an interval of 150 years. One of them, one might say, is our contemporary, Victor, born in 1941. He grew up in the post-war years, served in the army, worked at an enterprise, rejoiced at receiving his own 6 acres, experienced perestroika, the collapse of the USSR and tried to find his place in the new capitalist reality. His not so distant ancestor, Andrei, grew up in a wealthy noble family. The father of the family, a hussar colonel, prepared his son for military service, which he began at the age of 15. And just four years later, the young cornet raced on a carriage to Paris with a special assignment from Minister of War Barclay de Tolly. Russia was preparing to repel Napoleon's imminent invasion. The events of the lives of both heroes are presented in the novel in the form of a historical detective story, while at the same time the description of Victor's life in the USSR and in post-Soviet Russia contains elements of fantasy, barely distinguishable from reality.