As a child, Elias Almeida loses both his parents during the uprisings against colonial rule in Angola and the Congo. As an adult and a professional revolutionary, he bears witness to mankind at its pitiless worst. Yet he continues to believe in a better world and the redeeming power of love – even though he cannot be with the woman he loves, who rescued him from thugs one snowy night in Moscow. Spanning forty years of Africa’s past as a battleground between East and West, this powerful novel explores the heights and depths of human nature as it tells a profoundly affecting story of sacrifice and idealism.