This book is dedicated to the fate and work of writers inextricably linked with the Great Patriotic War: I. Ehrenburg, A. Tvardovsky, K. Simonov, S. Gudzenko, V. Nekrasov, B. Slutsky, G. Baklanov, B. Okudzhava, A. Adamovich, V. Bogomolov, V. Kondratyev, V. Bykov, V. Grossman, D. Granin. The author of the book is also a participant in the Great Patriotic War. As a literary critic, I worked on books about the war for many years.