Ladislava Zápotocký, father of the future president of Czechoslovakia Antonín Zápotocký who wrote the book on which the film is based, is in 1880s exiled to his home village of Zákolany near Kladno where he works as a tailor. Being a socialist, he raises class awareness among workers, and organizes a local association that, despite prosecution, manages to win election in 1897 for the social democratic party in the voting district. The film has a relatively high authenticity about life in central Bohemia.