This is the saga of the Roshensky family. Jacov, the father, is a prosperous jeweler who, in his youth, was a Marxist rebel in tsarist Russia and still possesses the heart of an idealist. Mikhail, Jacov's oldest son, is brilliant, handsome, and fearless; he is drawn to the underside of life and becomes a notorious professional gambler known as Mickey Russian. Bobby, the youngest Roshensky, dazzled by his older brother's lifestyle, finds himself entangled in the violent world Mickey lords over. Their tale journeys through the Spanish Civil War, Nazi Germany, betrayal, murder, revenge, and the landing at Normandy on June 6, 1944.