Colin Limmerick lives a double life. His rugged good looks and merchant fishing trade don't coincide with his desire to continue his higher education at a London university. His Irish working-class pirate-like behavior repulses his stuffy elitist professor making it difficult for his research to be taken seriously. Looks are deceiving when his research idea to prove Darwin by demonstrating the great Irish deer megaloceros giganticus was sexually selected against. He meets physicist, Dr. Sasha Dimitrikov, an eccentric escapee from the Russian Revolution, who has developed a time travel theory. The only way Limmerick can prove his research is to venture through a prehistory journey.

In the midst of his frustration, he becomes enchanted with a lovely research student, Rosa, who he manages to woo with great difficulty. Her Edwardian prudish scowl continuously pushes him away, despite her stimulated attraction for him. She mistakenly tosses Limmerick aside and is lured into Dr. Dimitrikov's arms. This occurs when the three scholars are on the first prehistoric expedition 10,000 years in the past in search of megaloceros. They encounter a prehistoric environment that is too unknown and unmanageable for modern people to survive. They are faced with several challenges but manage to conquer by survival of the fittest.

Limmerick's research on prehistoric evolution is greatly admired by a foreign professor from India, Dr. Sharma, who introduces his voluptuous daughter, Amoli. She falls instantly in love with Limmerick where he is at first reluctant but succumbs to her seduction dance not realizing the clash of the cultures that lie ahead. At the same time, he is faced with a new challenge recognizing the first expedition left unexpected damage. He must time travel again in order to mend the chaotic mess he left the first time. He and Dr. Dimitrikov are faced with another prehistoric expedition, which is more life threatening than the first especially when they are violently confronted by a family of Neanderthals. His excessive drinking carries through the novel but heightens with his destructive behavior when he finally comes to terms knowing two 20th century men can't play God and that he must fight for what he truly loves.