War makes heroes of men but at what price? As the twentieth century dawns Guv Sutro against his father's will becomes a pioneer of aviation a fighter ace on the Western Front during the Great War & a record-breaker between the wars. From his first flight in a primitive glider over the fields of Sussex helped by the dogged loyalty of his friend Stan Kemp he charts his ruthless course to fame & adulation. But with the outbreak of World War Two 'the best of Old England' begins to crumble. Guv's son Tim is fighting a more covert war desperate to shed the burden of his father's reputation while Tim's childhood companion Will Kemp the son Guv felt he deserved is fighting heroically against overwhelming odds as a Spitfire pilot. The fates of the men are bound together in the monumental ambitions & terrible tragedies of an age of heroes.