The reader finally got the opportunity to read a quality translation of one of the best works of Rudyard Kipling. This almost autobiographical novel tells about the fun and arduous life of students in an English private school. Arkady Strugatsky was a real fan of Stalki and Company. It was the protagonist of this book - ""the great man of the century"", the bully and the cunning Stalki - who inspired the Strugatsky brothers to create the image of Stalker.