Kazakh scientist and traveler, Chokan Valikhanov studied at St. Petersburg University and was well known in Russia. When sent to war against the Kazakhs, Valikhanov was forced to make a choice between Tzar and native land.
The writer Bektas-agha, arriving in his native village, remembers his childhood: his mother died early, his careless father, who married the beautiful Kulimbala, the teacher Sagatbai. It was a time of collectivization. Bai and his henchmen, playing on the feelings of people expecting hunger,...