The narrative takes the reader from Gregory's early childhood through his participation in the Russian Revolution as a member of the Tsar's army. In furtherance of his duty to his country, he abandons his plans to continue his education at Petrograd University to pursue a peripatetic journey through Russia and around the Black Sea. All around him, he continues to witness the horrific scenes of war. The boy grows into a man, never failing to forget his roots as an orphan and the extended family who raised him.