The setting is Kiev in 1918, a time of revolution, turmoil and civil war. The Germans have occupied the city, Petlyura's Socialists are camped outside awaiting their moment, while the Bolsheviks watch, contemplating their buried armaments.

It is a time of suspense and anguished uncertainty for everyone, including the once wealthy Turbin family, who, like other last supporters of the Tsar, will find their world growing smaller and smaller until it disappears altogether.