The author of the book was born in the city of Temnikov, Tambov province in 1907. His memories of the past formed the basis of the novel, which consists of five books, each of two volumes. Describing the life vicissitudes of the main character, his prototype, the “ordinary man” Boris Aleshkin, the author comprehends his life experience from a distance of time. This is not only a family chronicle, but also a true story about early orphanhood, about the difficulties of growing up in someone else's family in conditions of devastation and hunger, about the formation of Soviet power in the Far East, about the Civil and Great Patriotic War - about everything that the author himself or his relatives were witnesses and participants. This is a novel about the destinies of people, about the past of the country, about war and about love. The first volume of the first book describes the Russian hinterland at the junction of the most important historical events of the country, the family into which the hero of the story was born, his ancestors and close people.