“The Second Belt” is an original, information-rich work. This is a documentary narrative with elements of fiction, revealing the role of the institution of advisers in the Afghan war. Anatoly Voronin's style is clear, simple and very expressive. Having delved into the specifics and all the details of the Afghan outback - otherwise it is impossible to introduce agents and carry out operational activities - the author creates a kind of encyclopedia of the everyday life of a distant country, which, after spending two turbulent years there, he thinks of “as something near and dear.” . The reader’s memory remains of vivid episodes, destinies and portraits of Afghans, as well as Russians - staff officers, doctors, officers and soldiers, thrown into the crucible of war on a foreign territory that essentially preserves the feudal system.A. Voronin shows the intellectual work of the “shuravi” in the Afghan military campaign (development of intelligence operations, staff planning, analysis of inter-tribal relations, intricacies in the struggle for power of the Afghan party apparatus, etc.). The author has found an interesting artistic technique: he includes words of local languages in the stream of Russian speech, which creates the effect of presence and shows how informal the Soviet specialists are in their service, how accustomed they are to the surrounding reality.