New book by historian and writer S.E. Mikheenkova is a unique collection of stories about the war by those representatives of the command staff of the Red Army, whose front-line fate, perhaps, was the shortest - platoon commanders, lieutenants. Their battle path often ended with the first attack, because they walked ahead of their platoon and were the first to take the enemy's lead. The author has been collecting stories about the war from Vanek platoon survivors for decades. The result was an extensive manuscript, from which the author selected the most striking episodes and arranged them thematically. This is a complete and exciting story about the war of a Russian lieutenant, testifying, in the words of the poet, that “war is not fireworks at all, but very difficult work.” The book will amaze the reader with the utmost frankness, nakedness of the soul and nerves of a warrior of the Great Patriotic War.