The new exciting novel by the famous Russian writer Valery Povolyaev tells about one of the most tragic episodes of Russian history - the Civil War in the Far East. At the center of the story is the bright, tragic fate of the military ataman of the Ussuri Cossack army, Major General Ivan Pavlovich Kalmykov (1890-1920), who became one of the most irreconcilable fighters against Soviet power in the Far East. Kalmykov's units controlled the Trans-Siberian Railway from Nikolsk-Ussuriysk to Khabarovsk. In February 1920, after the defeat of Kolchak's army, Ataman Kalmykov went to Manchuria, where he was soon arrested by the Chinese gendarmerie and shot.