Nathaniel Starbuck is a Copperhead: a northerner fighting fo the rebel south in America's Civil War.

Aided by his spymaster Allan Pinkerton, General McClellan is convinced he can lead the northerners to the gates of the rebel capital of Richmond.

Starbuck expelled from his regiment by it bombastic founder, Washington Falconer, must travel a hard road before he can rejoin his comrades: through the savage prisons of Richmond, across the blood-sodden battlefields of Virginia, even into the high command of the northern army. For Starbuck has joined the shadowy war of betrayal and espionage, where nothing is certain and no one may be trusted.