This collection includes the well-known cycle of Babel's stories "Cavalry" and his immortal, disassembled into quotes "Odessa Tales".

In the Cavalry cycle, the author passionately and truthfully talks about the Civil War, about the "elements of the revolution" , where there was a place for victories and defeats, generosity and cruelty.

"Odessa Tales" is an ironic story about resilient bandits from Moldavanka and their irresistible leader Ben Krik. Babel masterfully depicts thieves, raiders and smugglers in birth, love and death. The low and the high, the spiritual and the carnal exist inseparably in this prose, just like life itself, described in a lively, expressive language.