A twelfth-century monk living quietly in his monastery receives an extraordinary gift-visions that carry him forward through the centuries to a transformed Britain of the distant future. There he discovers a world where women stand as equals, where science has conquered disease and disability through radical eugenic programs, and where the Western nations have rebuilt themselves along communal, quasi-medieval lines after a devastating war with Asia.
Yet this seemingly enlightened society raises troubling questions. At what cost has progress been purchased? As the monk witnesses humanity's long, uneven struggle toward compassion-the "rebel passion" that defies cruelty and oppression in every age-he must reckon with whether mercy can truly flourish in a world that has embraced the power to decide who deserves to live.