In 1866, a tragedy occurred at the English private school Windfield - one of the students drowned under mysterious circumstances. 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 destinies of not only the empire, but the entire world. Ken Follett has created a gripping saga about a family with ambitions and passions, united by a dangerous legacy - the truth about what really happened at Windfield School many years ago.