Drawing from his own experiences, Suvorov (writing under a pseudonym) provides insight into the brutality of a military machine in which soldiers are treated with little regard.
A veteran of the Soviet army and intelligence, Suvorov had defected to the United Kingdom in 1978.
The book includes Suvorov's eyewitness account of the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia by Soviet forces.
Suvorov explored those topics in his subsequent book, Inside the Soviet Army (1982), with a much more objective approach.
United States military reviewers commented that the book "made a valuable contribution to our understanding of Soviet Armed Forces", especially in the areas where he had firsthand knowledge.