The book examines the survival practices of Russian scientists in civil confrontation (1917-1920). The territorial framework of the study is the regions of Russia, most of the time under the rule of anti-Soviet regimes, which have become centers of mass migration of the capital's population. The author's analysis of diaries, memoirs, personal correspondence of scientists, documents of universities, research institutions, periodicals made it possible to understand how people of science responded to the challenges of the Civil War. It is shown that, "being according to the conditions of time in the province" (far from the capital and foreign scientific and educational institutions, libraries, museums), scientists still tried to professionally improve and contribute to the promotion of science. Considerable attention is paid to the interaction of refugees from capitals and their provincial colleagues in the field of the formation of university and scientific infrastructure, the preservation of cultural and natural heritage; solidarity and individual ways to overcome physical, material and psychological threats, as well as the political behavior of scientists in conditions of a frequent change of power.