The novel "When fortresses do not surrender" about the life of an outstanding figure in the domestic military engineering science Hero of the Soviet Union D. M. Karbyshev. The author traces the path of his hero from the First World War to the Great Patriotic War. In the novel, Sergei Golubov vividly reproduced the exceptional courage and resilience of Soviet soldiers in the fight against the enemies of our Motherland. In the center of the novel is General Dmitry Karbyshev. At the beginning of the war, in the battles near Mogilev, Karbyshev was captured. The Nazis decide to attract a major Soviet military leader and scientist to their side and force him to serve the fascist army. They use all means, but no threats and torture achieve their goal. After four years of unsuccessfully fighting the adamant Soviet general, the brutal executioners decide to end Karbyshev.