Since the late 20th century, the Soviet-American CoDominium had kept the peace, both on Earth and among the stars. But now the CoDominium is dying, and its death-throes will be terrible; already the nations arm for their final battle. With Earth doomed, mankind's sole hope for a future worth having rests on a planet called Sparta, a planet where American idealists have raised once more the banner of a liberty that has been forgotten amid the corruptions and tyrannies of Earth.