The city of Archangel is largely a Russian backwater in 1914 when a pair of students are led into an assassination plot against a member of the Russian Royal Family. Their youthful indiscretion leads close friends and family members onto divergent paths against the backdrop of the First World War. A pilot wins great accolades at great cost, a soldier waits for his chance to help contrive a fundamental change in his country, an adventurer braves death to start a new life in a new country, and a young woman learns the true price of living beyond her means. A tale of battle, love and courage, Life and Darkness encompasses the grand scope of Imperial Russia in war and revolution.