Many naval officers could not come to terms with the death of the Russian Empire. They went through the crucible of the Civil War, more than once faced a choice - life or death, took an unequal battle, died, but did not change the oath. Their fates abroad have developed differently... The book of the historian N. Kuznetsov tells about the tragic consequences of the Civil War, about the difficult life of Russian sailors in exile, about the participation of fleet officers in wars and conflicts of the 20th century, their service in foreign fleets, and the cultural life of numerous maritime emigrant organizations.