Colonel Stillwell's Mission

England, the mills of Lancashire fear hard times. They need certainty of supply. Colonel Arthur Stilwell is sent on their behalf to America on a fact-finding mission and also with instructions from Lord Palmerston's government to assess the likelihood of war and, in that event, its outcome. Against this background, Stillwell meets northern abolitionists, southern slave owners, and visits Charleston when the first shots are fired at Fort Sumter.

Back in England, the Government faces a dilemma - whether to intervene or not; while in the North, not only the Lonsdale family but Stillwell's mill-owning colleagues are affected by the turmoil of events. Even romance finds no smooth path as Stillwell discovers.