This volume opens with a work related to one of V.S.’s favorite themes. Pikul - the theme of the history of the Far East. The novel “Cruisers” is about the courage of our sailors in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. It was dedicated by the author to the tragic anniversary of the Battle of Tsushima. For the novel “Cruisers” the writer was awarded the State Prize of the RSFSR named after M. Gorky. “Go and Don’t Sin” is a short novel based on the sensational case in the 1890s of the murder of Simferopol bourgeois Olga Palem of her lover. The volume ends with a short novel, Stars Over the Swamp. It was based on letters from Karakozovites - political exiles of the late 1860s. A reliable narrative about the life of the northern province is based on authentic materials, about how in the wild polar wilderness, in the city of Pinega, on the border with the tundra, glimpses of new relationships between people suddenly flare up.