In the new collection, German Sadulayev moves away from our usual image of a “fighter for the rights of the office proletariat” and returns to the roots, to the theme of lyrical and instructive memoirs, consonant with the novel “I am a Chechen.” Pictures from childhood, touching sketches from the life of pre-war Shali give way to reflections on courage and humanity, perseverance and fortitude. The allegorical story of the “Sporov Republic” is followed by alarming texts about the approaching end of the world. In all these stories there is a war - impending, raging or long past, but it is always somewhere nearby, impartially judging the living and the dead, preventing us from ceasing to be human.