The story of a novelist who is sued by a doctor for libel because the author's best-seller accuses the doctor of being a Nazi collaborator who conducted experiments on Jews in a concentration camp during World War II. The story covers a 27-year period in the lives of these men and concludes with the dramatic trial in Queens Bench No. VII (QB VII).

A novel depicting Ireland's struggle for independence and the violence caused by the divisions between the impoverished Catholic peasantry and the wealthy Protestant aristocracy.