As the sun rises over the Egyptian coastline, one of the world's largest private yachts steams towards Alexandria. Standing on its upper deck is Julius Caspar, billionaire oil tycoon and philanthropist, who is returning to the city on his 80th. birthday. And as he gazes at the approaching waterfront, he recalls his youth as an impecunious Armenian bank clerk in what was then the most glittering centre of the Mediterranean and his frustrated love but ever haunting love for an 18 year old heiress before his subsequent escalade to riches and worldwide recognition. Set against a changing backdrop of prewar Egypt, of Paris, London and New York in the sixties and seventies, of terrorism in the Middle East and famine in Ethiopia, all the aspects of human strengths and frailties are brought to life in this international three-generation saga where a dramtic climax redimensions a man's destiny.