About the book: 2016 / Vladimir Valeryevich Nogovitsyn is a native of the Arkhangelsk region, poet, prose writer, translator, professional journalist, member of the Union of Writers of Russia. The author of about two dozen books and numerous publications both in Russia and abroad. In this book he continues the leading theme in his work - military-patriotic. “Instead of obelisks, crosses” is also about preserving the memory of the past, which cannot be put an end to. So that it doesn’t turn out like Nikolai Rubtsov: “They baptized the earth with crosses.” The book is valuable because it goes beyond purely personal perception. The author is surprised, asks questions, and is indignant. Poetic lines become journalistic, sometimes harsh, hitting directly. But there is no other way. The poet has every right to write like this: he is a participant in the search movement of the Arkhangelsk region. More than once or twice I went to All-Russian Memory Watches to the battlefields of the Great Patriotic War.