The novel’s main characters are Russian officers, nobles, and political figures who, after the revolution, ended up in Paris and are forced to survive in humiliating conditions. Clinging to the hope of a quick return home, they gradually find themselves drawn into a major financial and political con on organized by Western intelligence services. As the story gathers momentum, the tragic gulf between their expectations and reality becomes ever clearer, and yesterday’s fellow countrymen turn into mere pieces in someone else’s game.