The action takes place on the eve of perestroika in a godforsaken dusty and dirty provincial garrison, lost in the sands of Turkestan during the war in Afghanistan. The town is located on the outskirts of the Soviet Empire: hopeless melancholy, many everyday problems, complex interethnic relationships, a career dead end for junior officers, a complete lack of future prospects... The story may seem like fiction, ridicule or even mockery of the army. This, they say, could not have happened during the construction of socialism, and the moral character of the Soviet people has always been exemplary. Alas, believe it or not, everything stated on these pages is the purest truth. The life of officers and their families is a comedy, up to a farce, and a drama, up to a real tragedy with Shakespearean passions. A little bit of everything. But all this was... What is the story about? About what you need to be ashamed of and about what you can be proud of - depending on how you look at it. The essence of the work is that all that glitters is not gold, and among the “slobs” there are many reliable and decent guys. The main character, Lieutenant Nikita Romashkin, serves in this garrison, lives, falls in love and has fun. In the end, almost all the participants in the story find themselves in a war that is going on nearby, across the river, in Afghanistan... The author’s style is emotional and bright, the style is amazingly lively. We advise young people to read it so they know, Afghan veterans so they remember, and everyone, everyone, everyone who loves good books.