Grigory Baklanov’s military story “A Piad of Land” takes the reader to the final days of the Second World War on a small strip of land by the Dniester. The main character is a young artillery lieutenant, Motovilov, whose reconnaissance work using a stereoscope/spyglass plays a decisive role in the fight against a German battery. The story focuses not on large-scale battles, but on Motovilov’s personal feelings and his relationships with his comrades and with the nurse Rita, as well as on his internal struggle between a sense of duty and fear in the face of death.