The younger brother of Emperor Alexander II, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, was the commander-in-chief of the Danube Army during the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878. He carried out many famous operations on Bulgarian soil, including the defense of the Shipka Pass, the defeat of Turkish troops in the battle of Sheinovo and, finally, the transition of Russian troops in winter through the Balkan ridge to the near approaches to Constantinople. A new novel by the modern writer-historian A. Shishov tells about the life and fate of the commander, field marshal general, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich the Elder (1831-1891).