London 1856: Karl Marx, known as "Mohr" by his friends, meets thirteen-year-old Joe Kling, whose family lives in crushing poverty. The boy works in a cotton spinning mill, twelve hours a day. His brother Billy, the leader of the "Raven Gang," is following his own path. He feels the need to enlighten Joe about his new acquaintance: "A man with a silver-tipped cane and a top hat and all the trimmings... he has money." Billy is unaware that the emigrant Karl Marx's family survives on meager earnings from newspaper articles. Despite the adverse circumstances, Marx manages to help the Klings in his own way.