The second book of the trilogy continues the story of how the Kolyma gold-mining region was developed in the 1930s using the specific methods of Dalstroi.
The first director of Dalstroi, the legendary Chekist and Leninist E.P. Berzin, is repressed; K.A. Pavlov replaces him—blindly following Stalin’s methods of leadership. Corrective labor camps fill up.