The novel “The Fighters” spans a wider time period and includes both collectivization, the emergence of a pioneer movement, the famine of 1933 in the Volga region, and much else—sometimes tragic, and at times even funny, because life takes its own in any situation. I won’t judge the subjectivity of the author’s assessments, though, in my view, there are very few of them. I can only say this: one contemporary of the writer, from a Kaluga village, told me that in this novel everything seems to be taken from his childhood. Therefore, I can confidently say that we are dealing not only with works of fiction, but with evidence of the time. And returning to my earliest statements, I recommend including at least these two books in your reading circle.