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The hero of Alexander Gergel’s novella is a modern man trapped by his past, trapped by his “Afghanistan.” Military experience is the moral measuring rod by which “his” present is assessed—because he found himself in the mountains of Badakhshan...

Alexander Gergel is a real participant in combat operations, a member of the brotherhood of the legendary Afghan infantry; a man who, with an automatic rifle in his hands, went through two years of that war that left a visible mark on the fate of an entire generation. The novella is written based on real events and is included in an informal list of the most credible testimonies of that era.