In the spring of 1941 Yugoslavia, hitherto neutral, finds itself at war with Germany as the pro-Nazi government is overthrown and replaced by a pro-allied administration.

The staff at the British Embassy make hasty plans to leave the country, but one of the military attaches, Captain Tony Davis, is separated from his comrades. Together with a motley group of refugees he escapes the city into the mountains of the west and begins a breath-taking series of adventures as he encounters the remnants of the Serb army, the dreaded Ustase terrorists and, eventually, the Partisans led by Josip Broz, alias Tito.

He rapidly becomes a legend, both for his fighting ability and his capacity for survival, but his personal life is bedevilled by the rivalry between two women: earthy Croat Elena and the delicate French journalist Sandrine Fouquet.