It is 1911, and the coronation day of King George V. Thirteen year old Billy Williams begins his first day in the filthy coal pits of a Welsh mine. The Williams are linked by romance to the Fitzherberts, aristocratic coal-mine owners. Lady Fitzherbert falls in love with Walter, a spy at the German Embassy in London. Their destiny is entangled with that of an aide to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and to two Russian brothers, whose plans to emigrate to America fall foul of war and revolution. And so the Century Trilogy begins ...