The Defeated novel is an artistically brilliant testimony of the great Russian revolutionary tragedy of the 20th century. The novel covers the period of the civil war and Soviet repressions of 1920-1930. The author of the book, Irina Vladimirovna Golovkina (nee Rimskaya-Korsakova), the granddaughter of the famous Russian composer N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, was born in St. Petersburg. The high historical tragedy described by her in the novel, fully affected herself. She lost both her son and her husband (an officer of the Imperial Russian Army), survived the blockade in Leningrad.