At the age of twenty-eight, Karel Havlíček Borovský is at the height of his fame and political influence. He owns the largest Czech newspaper, is widely known, admired by all, and financially secure. He has a beautiful young wife, Julie, and his future seems to be firmly in his hands. Slowly, however, a hostile, anonymous gray machinery of the state apparatus begins to take effect around him. Its embodiment is Havlíček's close friend Wagner, who is one of his admirers, but at the same time, he is also a secret police officer, a loyal representative of state power. The higher Havlíček's star rises, the longer...