During the Great Patriotic War, the following anecdote went: "Why is Li-2 so fat, Il-2 is "humped," and the "pawn" is so thin? Because Li-2 speculated the whole war, the attack aircraft carried out the war on itself, and the "pawn," like a prostitute, was thrown into scouts, fighters, or dive bombers..." There is some truth in this rude joke - created as a heavy fighter, during the Second World War, the Pe-2 became the most massive Soviet front-line bomber, the same symbol of Victory as the T-34 and Il-2. The new book by Artem Drabkin, which continues a popular series of conversations with veterans of the Great Patriotic War, contains the memories of pilots who fought on the legendary "pawn" - pilots, navigators, radio gunners.