A plague has destroyed the old world, and a small group of survivors are learning to live a new life. But old rivalries have survived too, and the personal conflict between two powerful men threatens to destroy the peace. Events in this book begin nearly seven years after a world-wide catastrophe has more than decimated the population of the world and a few fledgling communities have begun to rebuild a life. Much of the book is concerned with individuals and their own stories of loss and survival. For Alan Shaw, their leader, coming to terms with the holocaust which they have survived means questioning the religious beliefs which have previously governed his actions. Alan Shaw and Thomas Starkey - another survivor - had been joint architects of a highly successful religious and political movement which had gained huge popular support immediately before the disaster which changed their world. Central to the story is how the political and personal rivalry between these two charismatic men can continue to obsess them, whatever catastrophic events may occur around them.