When commoner Adam Wat Tyler, the son of a smithy, is falsely accused of murder he sees no recourse but to flee the windy cliffs of Cornwall, England, and travel to the new colonies in America. With the aid of a freed slave and two Iroquois, Adam and Lady Anne Danamoor, a British aristocrat, learn to survive in the rugged, colonial world and come to understand and respect the disappearing Native American way of life. As war clouds gather, Adam follows Benedict Arnold on an attack of the frozen fortress of Quebec, fiery battles on Lake Champlain, and bloody battlefields at Saratoga. When Adam learns of Arnold's betrayal, he joins George Washington's master spy and returns to British-held New York City, risking his life to deliver Arnold to Washington and to justice. Anne also has returned to the city in search of her lost nephew, but an anonymous note leads her into a death trap. As Adam and Anne draw closer to the British gallows, this story of love and hate, trust and betrayal, generosity and greed, recounts the struggle to survive, not only for Adam and Anne, but for the nation they are helping to create.