The author examines the German campaign in the Caucasus and in particular the battle on the Kalmyk steppe.

The book covers the period of the 1920s and the 1930s and highlights the role played by the security organs of the VChK-OGPU to secure the security and ability of the Soviet Armed Forces to protect the national interests. The author seeks to reverse the negative image/view on the role of the agencies to strengthen the armed forces.

The author examines new theories about the start of World War Two for the Soviet Union.

The book, in the author's words, seeks to combat what revisionism in the teaching and understanding of the Second World War and a diminishment of the achievements of the Red Army.

The author is a veteran of the elite Russian airborne troops. In his book, he describes not only his own career, but the service of this elite group in the Afghan war.