Two captains

"Not an easy book to analyze but it has a curious fascination --this story of Sanya Grigorav, his early days in Moscow of the Revolution, his family life, his schooling at the Children's Shelter. The years at the university in Leningrad reflect the changing viewpoint of the Russian intellectual in the late '20's. The thread holding the reminiscences together is the Saint Maria, lost in a polar expedition, and eventually solved Sanya's training as Flight Pilot rounds out the book."--Kirkus.