Marek Zaczek is born amidst the snows of Galicia in 1772. Born a simple peasant boy, Marek grows to be a man over the next twenty-five years. He dreams of the past power of Poland's feared Winged Hussars, and of even one day riding for his country as an Uhlan Cavalier. Above all else, he wants nothing more than the hand in marriage of his beloved Maya Manuska. The Story of Marek's life becomes forever intertwined with the heinous crimes of the Partitions of Poland, the soaring spirit of independence won in America, and the haunting terror of the French Revolution.