Introduces Captain Graf Ulrich von Bek, his relatives, and his family's quest: the protection of the Holy Grail.

Seeking the answer to the mystery of life, Captain Oswald Bastable visits the Temple of the Future Buddha and is thrown through time to a new twentieth century. Plague, anarchy and superstition rule the world where he finds himself. Bands of diseased mutants pillage the continents while pirate U-boats prowl the oceans. But from this chaos emerges Black Attila, commander of the African Hordes and master of the most terrible weapon ever devised by Man - the Land Leviathan, a terrifying ziggurat on wheels, a moving mountain of deadly artillery. At last, after centuries of cruel oppression, the Land Leviathan helps the Black Attila establish Black Power on an unimaginable, global scale. Unimaginable, that is, to anyone except Michael Moorcock who has re-written the history of the twentieth century in his own totally original, biting style.

He was a mysterious cosmic presence who came out of nowhere with the incredible promise to free the dying planet. Earth's future is one of peace. There are no more wars, nuclear weapons are outlawed, and technology is raising mankind to new heights. Many cities are now underground. Alain von Bek is a bastard of distinguished lineage working an unassuming job with city administration in the underground city of Switzerland. But with the appearance of a massive clownish figure calling himself the Fireclown, Alain's life and the course of Earth's future are both about to change. The Fireclown claims to hold the keys to mankind's salvation. He carries an undeniable charisma that is winning him followers, chief among them Helen Curtis, Alain's cousin and former lover, not to mention serious candidate in the next presidential election. But there are also those who mistrust the Fireclown. At the forefront of this opposition is Minister Simon von Bek, Alain's grandfather, and Helen's chief competition in the forthcoming election. Gradually, Alain finds himself sucked into a game of chess between these three polarizing forces, but each new revelation raises new questions, about his past and that of the world's future. He will have to put his trust in someone, and time is running out-for him and the world.

This volume of Moorcock's dark fantasy contains The Warhound and the World's Pain, The City in the Autumn Stars, The Pleasure Gardens of Felippe Sagittarious, and The Dragon in the Sword. In order to reclaim his lost soul, Captain Graf Ulrich von Beck must obtain for Lucifer the Holy Grail, the Cure for the World's Pain.

This first of two trilogies concerning Corum, the Prince in the Scarlet Robe, is the seventh volume in the Eternal Champion series. Like all the other books in this series, it is newly edited and updated by the author and his editor.