The novel is inhabited by real historical figures. Jaspers examines a propaganda leaflet in rainy Heidelberg. Arendt wanders through sun-drenched Jerusalem, searching for the courtroom where her trial will take place. Eichmann awaits an interview in a prison cell. Bernhard chats with a photographer in a Viennese café on the eve of the premiere of his latest play.

Four characters, trapped in individual situations, amidst a circular, spiraling time, in the "territory of memory." Experimental educators Milgram and Jones, journalist Shearer and artist Tinguely, and directors Lang and Parajanov also live out their own stories here. Each lives in a space constructed from numerous film quotations by Godard, Chytilová, Resnais, Antonioni, and others. "Territory of Memory," about collective guilt and the endless repetition of history, is the second book in the "Trilogy of Impotence," and partly a continuation of "Testimonies of Dwelling."