The action takes place in Kyiv, in the winter of 1918. The quiet, intelligent Turbin family becomes a witness and participant in the terrible events of the bloody year of 1918. The main characters - the elder brother Alexei, sister Elena, the younger Nikolka and their friends Myshlaevsky, Karas and Shervinsky - are involved in a whirlwind of military and political events. Their personal dramas unfold against the backdrop of the tragedy of the entire country: the Germans, who had occupied Ukraine, leave Kyiv, and it is captured by Petliura’s troops.
