Oxford-educated Englishman Conrad de Lancey is haunted by the brutality of the Spanish Civil War, his ideals laying in the dust along with the cause for which he fought. Therefore, on a visit to his mother's German homeland, Conrad shies away from involvement in any resistance to the rise of the National Socialist Party. However, he will soon have little choice as tragic events drag him into a world of espionage, brutality and fear, culminating in a conspiracy to kill Hitler himself.