The scene of this novel is Kentucky; the time, the early days of this century, when the men who raised tobacco tried to organise themselves against the power of the men who bought it. This conflict of wills and motives led to violence, which bred more and greater violence. The hero, Percy Munn, a young lawyer, is drawn into the battle; against his will, almost before he knows it, he becomes a leader in a struggle that is so pervasive and demanding that he is led by it to abandon first his profession and personal code, then his wife and home, and finally society itself.