Peter Levi, a shy and sensitive 19 year old American student, moves to Paris to study at the Sorbonne and avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War. After a long holiday in New England with his eccentric mother, he is determined to live a life in harmony with his own idealistic views. But the world is changing at breakneck pace, and Peter struggles to keep up. With nuclear war looming abroad and racial tensions simmering at home, Peter finds himself an unwilling witness to an era of frightening change.