ɪɾ ɪz sˈɛt ɪn pɹɑːvˈɑ̃s æt θɹˈiː dˈɪfɹənt kɹˈɪɾɪkəl mˈoʊmənts ʌv wˈɛstɚn sˌɪvɪlᵻzˈeɪʃən—ðə kəlˈæps ʌvðə ɹˈoʊmən ˈɛmpaɪɚɹ ɪnðə fˈɪfθ sˈɛntʃɚɹi, ðə blˈæk dˈɛθ ɪnðə fˈoːɹtiːnθ, ðə sˈɛkənd wˈɜːld wˈɔːɹ ɪnðə twˈɛntiəθ—θɹuː wˌɪtʃ ðə fˈɔːɹtʃʊnz ʌv θɹˈiː mˈɛn ɑːɹ fˈɑːloʊd:
It is set in Provence at three different critical moments of Western civilization—the collapse of the Roman Empire in the fifth century, the Black Death in the fourteenth, the Second World War in the twentieth—through which the fortunes of three men are followed: