The novel tells the story of the turbulent and tragic events of the 20th century: the Bolshevik coup, bloody terror, the strengthening of dictatorial regimes in Europe, the miserable life of Russians in a foreign land. Among dozens and dozens of his characters - from a St. Petersburg cab driver to a Russian lady selling herself on the panels of Istanbul, from Trotsky and Lenin to Mussolini and Stalin, from Rachmaninov and Stanislavsky to Alexei Tolstoy and Mark Aldanov - the most striking figure is the great Bunin. The book contains obscene language swearing