The story “Youth of the Commander” is dedicated to Prince Alexander Nevsky and tells about the merits of the prince as the organizer of the defense of Veliky Novgorod from the onslaught of the Swedes and the Teutonic Order in the early 40s. XIII century At the same time, the author shows that Novgorod, under the leadership of this prince, was that part of the “Russian land” that retained not only some kind of independence from the Horde, but also obvious combat capability in the fight against the aggression of its western neighbors.