Miner's son David Powlett-Jones returns from the carnage of the Western Front in 1918 shell-shocked & bitterly hardened by the violence of war. He begins life again as a master at a remote Devon school controlling the destiny of boys barely his junior. As the years pass David becomes a teacher of rare talent begins to find peace & is able to adjust to the changes which are overwhelming society. But soon he will have to face up to the prospect of another terrible war.