A woman is detained at La Conciergerie. She's 37 but her hair are already white. She's suffering from terrible haemorraghe. Her name is Marie-Antoinette of Lorraine, from Austria, and she's living her last four days.

In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.

Soon after her latest husband death, the King himself (Louis XIV) meets with our heroine and begs her to help convince the Persian Ambassador to agree to a treaty. However, what they didn't realize was that the handsome Persian was in fact a sexual sadist. So, it is up to the King's half- brother, some Hungarian prince, to save Angélique from the evil troll's clutches.

Grigori Rasputin becomes a fixture of Russia's Imperial Court after saving the life of Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia, the haemophiliac heir to the throne. However as war breaks out, Rasputin's enemies see him as a cause and plot fatal revenge against the Russian mystic.

The Marcenat couple seem to have everything they need to be happy. However, Odile's frivolity and Philippe's jealousy drive the couple apart. Philippe, manager of the family printing business, finds solace in Isabelle, a long-time employee at the paper mill. Isabelle's routine life, entirely devoted to her work, leads Philippe to strike up a romantic relationship with the playful young Misa. But, faced with Isabelle's grief, Philippe puts an end to the romance. When Odile, inconsolable since their break-up, finally commits suicide, Philippe realizes that she was his true love.

The writer and philosopher Voltaire decides to take action when he hears of a case of a man being tortured after being accused of murdering his son.

Heroes from the title are American married couple who in the 1950 were captured and sentenced for spying in favour of Soviet Union.