Simply told tale of Russians fighting the Nazis on the production front. This is the story of one factory, its workers and directors, its transfer from the Ukraine to the Urals before the German advance. They leave the homes they love -- they destroy what they cannot take -- theirs is a singleminded determination to do anything for victory against the hated enemy. Mainly it is the story of Dubenko, director of the factory, and of his gargantuan task of organization; of Valya, his wife, who will not leave him; of his father, to whom the destruction and moving of the factory which he had helped build is heartbreaking. But it is also the story of the workers, the pilots who test the planes, of the people of the Urals who help them rebuild, of the fighters of the Soviet through the letters of Timish who suffers so to see his beloved Ukraine razed -- all these emerge from the pages and live. A war story of suffering and destruction of homes and lives -- but with tragedy overlaid by courage and hope.