World War I rages between Austria-Hungary and Russia on the bloody and chaotic Eastern Front. Miklós, the 17-year-old youngest son of a large Jewish family in southwest Hungary, defies his father and enlists in the Hungarian army to avenge the death of his oldest brother—killed in the War’s first battle. Impetuous, tall and strong, he is also kind-hearted and naive. Soon captured, he is hell-bent on escape. Living by his wits, he makes use of his natural talents, as he faces the danger posed by his religion in a hostile world. In Kyiv, Petrograd, and the fields of Belarus nothing goes according to his plans—for better and worse. For two and a half years the young man survives the harsh conditions through his determination and with the help of the assorted characters he befriends along the way, but he cannot escape the violence in his path. Unbroken, he matures, as he lives through critical moments of the War and the Russian Revolution. Until he takes the ultimate risk. The enduringly relevant challenges that deluge the young soldier-prisoner provide a glimpse into an often-overlooked segment of early twentieth century European history.