James Sadler is an artisan born in the reign of King George III, the dawn of the age of science yet blighted by an Establishment determined to maintain control. James has a passion for study and a wild dream for man-made flight. But his upstart ambitions put him in conflict with the Church, University and Royal Society. Tragedy strikes and he is torn between ambition, his love for Mary Vane and the risks of daring to oppose the social mores of his day.