The fall of the Cardassian Empire, seen from both within and without. Rugal is a young man with a foot in two worlds -- a Cardassian, orphaned as a boy and raised by Bajorans to regard Cardassians as oppressors. Reluctantly repatriated to Cardassia as a teenager, Rugal becomes a firsthand living witness to the downfall of the proud people to whom he was born, first at the hands of the invading Klingons, then during Cardassia's unholy pact with the Dominion - a partnership that culminated in the near-destruction of the Cardassian people. Through it all, Rugal's singular perspective sheds new light on these tragic events, unflinchingly illuminating the arrogance and folly that brought the Cardassians to their ruin ... even as he learns that the Cardassian soul is harder to understand than he imagined.