The consciousness of a modern professor unexpectedly finds itself in the body of a young Carl Peter Ulrich—the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp—who is destined to become the Russian Emperor Peter III and die by order of his own wife, the future Catherine the Great. The story gains a new participant, and he himself has one single goal: not to reach a predetermined ending and to escape the deadly trap of court intrigues.
Europe is torn apart by the war over the Austrian succession: the powers measure themselves in battles and backroom deals, and the fate of the young duke becomes a coveted prize for many players. Will the professor-turned-rational engineer be able to survive an era where power and politics grind people into nothing without mercy—and step off the bloody wheel of History before it reaches him?