The author of the book flew 997 confirmed night missions in an open cockpit of a Po-2. Flying at low altitudes, often too low to safely parachute out of a damaged aircraft, the pilots of these machines often flew nighttime low level bombing raids or reconaissance missions.

The author was a fighter pilot for the Soviet Union during World War II. He was made a Hero of the Soviet Union on two separate occasions (24 May, 1943 and July 1, 1944). He scored 61 confirmed personal victories and 4 additional shared victories in air combat. As such, he is the third highest scoring Soviet pilot in World War II. He began the war in the air over Moldova in 1941.

The newest book by Artem Drabkin continues his popular series of interviews with war veterans - and in this case, the pilots, navigators and gunners that flew into combat in the Pe-2.