In 1866, a tragedy occurred at the English private school Windfield - under mysterious circumstances, one of the students drowned. Only a few of his comrades witnessed what happened... This is the first link in a chain of events that stretched over many decades and affected many destinies. A chain of events stretching through closed "gentlemen's clubs" and dirty brothels, through luxurious ballrooms and offices in the City of London, where Victorian financiers decided the fate of not only the empire, but the whole world. Ken Follett has created a gripping saga of a family with ambition and passion, united by a dangerous legacy - the truth of what really happened at Windfield School years ago.