Imagine a Britain stripped of democracy: a world of the not-too-distant future, in which freedom was not lost, but surrendered willingly to a totalitarian regime that rose to power by exploiting people's worst fears and most damning weaknesses. This is the setting for the parable of Evey, a young woman who is saved from death by a masked vigilante calling himself only V. Beguiling and dangerous, V ignites the fuse of revolution when he detonates two London landmarks and seizes the government-controlled airwaves, urging his fellow citizens to wake up and shed the blanket of tyranny and oppression in which they have permitted themselves to be cloaked. While those in power take steps to neutralise the threat, the police pursue the mystery of V, unaware of the terrible truth that awaits them at the end of the trail. It is Evey, however, who, with V as her untrustworthy guide, sets out on the most painful path of all: a journey of deception, and self-discovery, deconstruction and re-creation, vindication and vengeance.