The driver Karpukhin came under investigation because of a tragic accident, as a result of which a person died. The young investigator, believing Karpukhin, undertook to defend the defendant, but at some point yielded to someone else's opinion, after which the accused had to prove his innocence himself...

The construction crew led by foreman Kuznetsov worked efficiently and in perfect coordination. This was largely because the foreman had a talent for teaching, which greatly helped him connect with the younger workers. But then, a newcomer arrived—someone who refused to adapt to the rest...

In February 1934, the steamship Chelyuskin was crushed by ice and sank in the Chukchi Sea. The ship's crew and members of the scientific expedition landed on a drifting ice floe, where they remained for two months. How did people live on the ice floe? How did they cope with loneliness and dispel dark thoughts? In addition to work, when the weather was good, they played soccer, volleyball, and town ball. They went on ski trips. They read. They managed to save four books: Pushkin's poems, Longfellow's "The Song of Hiawatha," Hamsun's "Pan," and the third volume of Sholokhov's "Quiet Don." We reminisced about our former lives, watched the northern lights, fought illness, dreamed, froze... In the evenings, we listened to a precious Marlene Dietrich record—we managed to save the gramophone, but only with two records. We published a wall newspaper called "We Will Not Surrender." They tried to be witty, played pranks. They created a choir...