Encounter Jim Grottenbottom, a man of science and inventiveness but considerably lacking in the areas of neatness and order. In the present story Jim is joined by his lifelong friend, Nate Hortinbey, a man whose passion for tidiness and stability belie the possession of a thoroughly disorganized mind. These two unlikely heroes are accidentally transported by one of Jim's creations and ride roughshod through the American Civil War. Space, time and history may never be the same.