The novel by the Ryazan prose writer Leonid Andreev tells about the extremely difficult and harsh fate of four officers, childhood friends. Life presents them with such trials that it seems impossible to overcome. And indeed, someone does not stand up and breaks down, going through the circles of hell, and someone only grows stronger under their furious blows, gaining the true value of love and being. Nevertheless, they all remain friends, constantly pulling each other out of the abyss of life - whether it be a battlefield, captivity or prison.