Englishman John Russell is a member of the foreign press corps in Berlin and a first-hand witness to the brutal machinations of Hitler and the Nazi party in the build-up to war during the early months of 1939. When an old acquaintance turns up at his lodging house, Russell's life begins to change. Gradually he is persuaded by a combination of threats, financial need and appeals to his conscience to become a spy -- first for the Soviet Union and then, simultaneously, for the British. The grim streets, the constant fear and the skin-deep glitter of pre-war Berlin -- with excursions to Prague, Danzig, London and the Baltic seashore -- form a rich backdrop as Russell, a reluctant hero and a saviour for some, treads an ever narrowing line between the Russians, the British and the Gestapo.