Within the sylvan hills of Russia's Don River valley, Grigori, a fiery and cruel young Cossack, takes up with Aksiniya, the wife of a fellow warrior. The brawling beauty of Cossack village life and the violent upheaval of World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution form a spectacular backdrop for a romance as real as it is tragic. Driven to deception and disgrace, the two lovers battle the condemnation of the old order and the dangers of a dawning new world.