The book is devoted to one of the brightest episodes of the Russo-Turkish war of 1877–1878: the defense of the small Russian garrison of the fortress of Bayazet, which entered history as «the Bayazet siege». This is a novel about faithfulness to one’s duty and oath, about the heroism of Russian soldiers who were trapped in the Bayazet fortress—and about the rescue of the Bayazet garrison. In 2003, a popular TV series was made based on the novel.