Malcolm Greene is a Scotsman, recruited to fight for Sweden under the greatest soldier of the century, Gustavus Adolphus. Malcolm throws himself into the fray in the great battles of the first half of the Thirty Years War. In the ranks of the Scotch Brigade, we meet Mackay, Hepburn, and Munro—heroes all and destined for greatness. He confronts rebellious peasants, goes undercover as a clockmaker, and in the end, marries the Thelka, with whom he will live out his days on the moors of Scotland.