Solovyov, a young scholar born into obscurity, arrives in St. Petersburg to have his thesis topic handed to him: the story of General Larionov. Dismissive at first, his subject soon intrigues the young scholar, even obsesses him: this is no ordinary general. The budding young historian sets off to Crimea to look for some lost pages from the general's diary and on his journey discovers many surprises, not least the charming Zoya, who works at Yalta's Chekhov Museum.