When Norman Eisen moved into the U.S. ambassador's residence in Prague in 2011, returning to the land his mother had fled after the Holocaust, he was startled to discover swastikas hidden beneath the furniture. From that discovery comes the captivating, twisting tale of the remarkable people who lived in the house before Eisen. Their story is Europe's, and here Eisen introduces the optimistic Jewish financial baron who built the palace; the conflicted Nazi general who put his life at risk for the house during World War II; the child star-turned-diplomat who fought to end totalitarianism; and Eisen's own mother, whose life demonstrates how those without power and privilege moved through history.