Jean-Christophe Roufen, a famous French writer, laureate of the Prix Goncourt, historian, diplomat, one of the founders of the Doctors Without Borders movement, wrote many books that have gained enormous popularity. However, a short novel called “The Red Collar,” based on a true story, literally shocked readers. They regarded this book as a hymn of love, courage and loyalty. The characters in the novel can be counted on the fingers of one hand: a prisoner, a jailer, an investigator, a young woman, a gendarme... But the main character here is a dog named Wilhelm. For days on end he barks incessantly, preventing the inhabitants of a small French town, engulfed in the July heat, from falling asleep. Together with his owner, a Berry peasant, the dog went through the entire war. They were first separated when Jacques Morlac, a First World War veteran who had been awarded the Legion of Honor, found himself in prison awaiting sentencing for insulting the nation. And no one understands what prompted the war hero to attach his military award to the collar of a rootless mongrel during a solemn procession. For the first time in Russian!