A novel following three generations of the Trotta family in the later years of the Habsburg Empire. The family rises when a humble soldier saves the young emperor's life in battle and is ennobled for it. His son becomes a dutiful official, and his grandson, Carl Joseph, struggles to live up to a heroic family legend in the army, stationed in remote border towns. Roth paints an elegant, melancholy picture of an empire that seems solid but is slowly losing its purpose. It is widely regarded as his masterpiece and a classic portrait of a fading world.