About the book: 1978 / The children's story "That's How It Was" was not published during the writer's lifetime. It is dedicated to a very important period in the life of our country. It tells about pre-war Leningrad, about the Great Patriotic War, about the Leningrad blockade, about how we won. Much of the story is documented and based on historical facts. These are not only memorable episodes for all Leningraders who survived the blockade, the shelling of the zoo and the fire in the People's House, not only the bombing of the hospital... So, for example, the poems “A blockade hung over Leningrad”, placed in the chapter “School in the basement”, is not a stylization, not a pastiche of children's creativity - this is a genuine poem by one Leningrad schoolchild of those harsh years, presented to the writer at a meeting with young readers in one of the schools in Leningrad. The story “That's How It Was” adds another, deeply humane touch to the creative portrait of the outstanding Soviet writer.