Vasili Tyorkin is one of the few books about the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 that was created during the war and withstood the test of time. It combines, happily and organically, Pushkin's tradition of the "liberal novel", Tolstoy's image of the "national war", and Nekrasov's interest to the peasant class. On the other hand, Tvardovsky managed to "paste together" the events of Soviet and Russian history by creating a national, generally dignified and at the same time humorous and homelike image of the national disaster and cause. The Author proves to be a full-fledged character of this verse novel, along with the protagonist. Cultural context: Pavel Florensky, Pyotr Boborykin, Ivan Bunin.