As the 19th century is drawing to a close, Moishe Mess (later

also known as Morris Ginsburg) and his brother Marcus set

out from their Jewish "shtetl" in anti-semitic tsarist Russia,

arriving penniless in Japan where they build a successful

business in a world dominated by the competition for political

and economic advantage between Russia, Japan and the other

great powers. The outcome depends on who will control the

ports and the hinterlands of the region. The Mess brothers

are soon prominent players as chandlers to and eventually

sole suppliers of Russia's Pacific fleets, operating from

their main offices in Yokohama, Nagasaki and Port Arthur,

and becoming privileged partners of the Russian military

establishment. Once the Russo-Japanese war of 1904/1905

has put an end to the Russian dream of dominating East

Asia, they return to Russia as honoured citizens of Saint

Petersburg, decorated by Tsar Nicholas and known as much

for their generous contributions to charitable projects as

for the beauty of Marcus's strong-willed wife Regina. The

Mess brothers' services worldwide are still required by the

increasingly unstable government, but the October Revolution

of 1917 sweeps away what is left of their status and most of

their fortune. The Mess family has helped in a small way to

shape the story of Russia in this turbulent period and has, in

turn, been shaped by its convulsions. In the end, Marcus dies

young, Morris leaves Russia for the last time and the younger

generation seeks new lives across the globe.