These are the memoirs of one Windemeer Hossbach, the last Führer Adjutant, whose verdict in the Nuremberg trial they say is about to come through any moment. The defendant takes us through two world wars, a time that began with the horse and buggy; and ended with the splitting of the atom.

An atrocity and a secret forever tie him to a village in the valley of Champagne. Whence issues Jack, who, thirty years later, sets to soar upon the virgin wings of space. Hossbach must get the rocket-man to forgo such fancies, so as to produce a war-winning weapon; else the Russians will exterminate them.

Who will survive to build the modern age?