The helicopter squadron in which Anatoly Surtsukov served, after redeployment to Afghanistan, began a different - real military life. The first flight is a combat one. And then a series of risky air attacks, raids, battles... The author, a helicopter ace, an honored military pilot of Russia, describes the war as he saw it and remembered it for the rest of his life. He went through everything: pain, death, the horrors of war. He looked the enemy in the eye, he lost friends, and his tormented soul was forever scarred by irreparable losses. The book is striking in its frankness, honesty and courage. Every line of it was labored through...