Nine-year-old Indiana Jones joins his parents and tutor on a world tour, beginning with their arrival in Egypt, where Indy climbs an ancient pyramid. Along the way, he befriends true-life historical figures T. E. Lawrence — future “Lawrence of Arabia” — and Howard Carter — future discoverer of King Tutankhamun’s tomb. Together, they uncover a lost tomb in the Valley of the Kings and Indy helps solve an intriguing murder mystery. As the Jones family continues to Morocco, Indy befriends an enslaved boy and struggles to understand how such mistreatment could still be condoned in a modern 20th century world. Indy and his new friend are soon captured, only surviving after a hair-raising escape.

In 1909 Indy helps Teddy Roosevelt collect specimens for the Smithsonian.

In 1908 Vienna, Indy falls for Archduke Ferdinand's daughter; barred from seeing her, he consults Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and Alfred Adler.

In Russia, Indy causes mayhem in an opulent place and runs away to avoid punishment. Traveling the countryside, he befriends a cantankerous old man revealed to be Leo Tolstoy, the celebrated novelist attempting to escape his own family troubles. Together, Indy and Tolstoy avoid dangerous Cossacks before the old man’s health forces them to turn back home for a reunion with their families. Onward to Greece, Indy and his father explore ancient sites while the elder Jones attempts to inspire his son about the lessons of the great philosophers. Visiting the historic libraries of a hanging monastery, father and son become trapped in a dangerous lift, and must overcome their tension with each other in order to escape alive.

Arriving in India and the Holy City of Benares, Indy and his family meet the boy teacher of the growing theosophy movement, Jiddu Krishnamurti. The modest young man shrugs off the hangers-on in his midst and accompanies Indy on a religious tour of the city, teaching his new American friend about how the differing faiths of the world seek a common truth. Moving east to China, the Jones family tours the ancient Great Wall before Indy falls deathly ill. A distraught Anna Jones is at first opposed to the use of traditional Chinese medicine, but comes around when the patient and thoughtful care of local villagers saves her son’s life.

Back home in Princeton, New Jersey, a teenaged Indiana Jones and his girlfriend Nancy Stratemeyer — whose father would create the Nancy Drew mystery series — visit the famed laboratory of Thomas Edison and uncover a mystery of their own. When an innovative electric motor is stolen and one of Edison’s scientists kidnapped, Indy and Nancy follow clues that appear to implicate German spies and discover a surprising revelation. Later while visiting family in New Mexico, Indy and his cousin visit the border where Indy is kidnapped by soldiers of the revolutionary Francisco “Pancho” Villa. Inspired by Villa’s determination to free his people from tyranny, Indy joins the fight and befriends a Belgian named Remy. When their feelings about the cause turn sour, Indy and Remy choose to leave Mexico and head for Europe and the Great War.