Indiana Jones describes to two truant boys his early life with his family and his dog. In Oxford 1908, Indy meets Helen Seymour, whom Henry requests to teach him on their voyage to Egypt. After an expedition to the pyramids, T. E. Lawrence invites Indy to the excavation of Ka's tomb, where he meets his friend Rashid, assistant to archeologist Howard Carter. The next day, Rashid is found murdered and the jackal headpiece stolen. Dimitrius, the chief blaster of the excavation, is revealed to be behind this, but he flees. In Mexico 1916, Indy is captured by Mexican revolutionaries, but is rescued by a Belgian called Remy. As Indy gets involved in the war, he recognises Dimitrius, who is collaborating with the US. After hearing how hypocritically the revolutionaries act, Indy and Remy decide to leave but not before Indy fights and defeats Dimitrius, to recover the jackal.

Indy is captured by the Germans and confined to a POW camp where he and fellow prisoner Charles de Gaulle hatch a daring scheme to escape.

Indy goes undercover as a dancer for the Ballet Russes in Spain, where he runs into an old friend, Pablo Picasso.

While going to college and working in a speakeasy, Indy meets up jazz great Sidney Bechet who teaches him how to play the blues. Unfortunately, Indy also crosses paths with Al Capone and it's only with the assistance of his dorm roommate, Eliot Ness, that Indy is able to solve a vicious murder and prevent himself from ending up dead.

In New York City, Indy stretches himself thin when he stage-manages a Broadway musical, dates three beautiful women, attends high society parties, reads poetry with Greenwich Village bohemians and trades barbs with the literary wits of the Algonquin Round Table, all accompanied by composer George Gershwin.