Moist von Lipwig is a con man, a cheat, and a swindler who has just been hanged. Unfortunately for him, the Patrician Lord Vetinari has had him cut down alive and given him a choice: take over the moribund Ankh-Morpork Post Office or die for real this time. What follows is Moist's attempt to restore the mail against the opposition of the Grand Trunk clacks company - the Disc's version of the telegraph - run by a ruthless businessman. A novel about the romance of public services, the evil of corporate greed, and the redemptive power of wearing a really good hat.