When Alfred Parrish meets the charismatic Major in Berlin, he finds himself whisked off on an adventure in St. Petersburg. Unfortunately for him, the Major arranged for his passport to remain with the Russian Embassy in Berlin and be sent on by post. Even more unfortunately, the penalty for travelling in Russia without a passport has recently been increased to ten years hard labour in Siberia.

The story is a delightful romp through scrape after scrape as Alfred and the Major dodge arrest and charm the most entrenched of bureacrats.