An epic tale set at the end of World War I follows the experiences of a family whose lives mirror the political unrest of an America caught between its well-patterned past and an unpredictable future. Police officer Danny Coughlin, the latest in a long line of cops, is a fresh face on the force and anxious to impress his father. Thus, he agrees to go undercover to infiltrate a group of anarchists involved in labor strikes. As Danny penetrates this underground world, however, he befriends people such as a beautiful Irish immigrant and a black servant-turned-criminal who force him to re-evaluate his beliefs. Incorporating real historic events, such as the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic and the 1919 Boston police strike, the author "captures the sense of a country coming of age.