Having graduated recently from the University of Edinburgh, the Scottish doctor, Nicholas Garrigan, flies to Uganda to work at a missionary clinic run by Dr David Merrit and his wife, Sarah. Before long, Garrigan has a chance encounter with the new President, General Idi Amin, who, right from the start, feels an immediate sympathy for him. As one thing leads to another, after a while, Idi Amin invites Nicholas to become his physician and modernise Uganda's health care system: a once-in-a-lifetime offer that the doctor cannot refuse. However, more and more, Garrigan finds himself trapped in the moral abyss of Idi Amin's murderous megalomania, putting his very soul at risk. When Nicholas finally summons up the courage to rise above the madness, he becomes embroiled in a desperate fight for survival.