The collapse of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, the defeat of countless counterrevolutionary conspiracies and uprisings, and the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War over fascist Germany—this is the span of historical events in the novel. The plot unfolds tense and dynamic.
The novel’s heroes are Soviet people who preserved their loyalty to the Soviet socialist Motherland even in the harshest conditions: Felix Dzerzhinsky, chairman of the Cheka; workers Yakov Petere and Andrey Martynov, who became Chekists; General Lukіn; engineer Kira Orlova; and others. These are people educated by the Communist Party—crystal clear, deeply convinced of the correctness of Lenin’s ideas—and ready to sacrifice their lives for the good of their people.