The IDEALIST begins with a boy's imaginary quest to rescue his father from the czar's prison. Out of his imagination emerges Georg-Karl Russano, a Socialist journalist and champion of human rights. His father, disillusioned by the Russian Revolution, becomes his bitter enemy. Alessandra, his ¿rst love, is from a prominent family whose wealth ¿nances Mussolini's rise to power. Georg-Karl shares his fugitive existence with Roberto and Giulia until the secret police capture him.
After a daring escape, Georg-Karl rejoins Giulia and their son in exile. His book Prisons earns him international success, although fame leads him to a betrayal. He seeks redemption in the Spanish civil war. With the execution of his father and mistress, Georg-Karl loses faith in his cause, but the crucible of World War II restores his beliefs. With the Allied victory, Italy becomes a democracy, his ideals enshrined in its constitution. Russano re¿ects on his comrades./p>

...their faded faces besieged his memory-the architects of destruction, the blind visionaries, the bright shadows of the underground, the prisoners of principles, the unhappy exiles, the soldiers of the republic, and the heroes of the Resistance. They were his life, his beacons, like the ¿ery stars in the night.