It is the second book in the Anno Dracula series and takes place during the Great War, 30 years after the first novel.

The book takes place during World War I and explores the Diogenes Club's efforts to investigate Germany's attempt to make powerful, undead fliers.

The story also features Edgar Allan Poe as a vampire writer assigned to ghostwrite the Red Baron's autobiography.

The book is set in an alternate history universe in which Professor Van Helsing failed in his efforts to kill Count Dracula.

The book combines a large number of historical and fictional characters, as did its predecessor, Anno Dracula, and pays tribute to a great many World War I movies and novels.