In 1899 the lives of many young men are threatened in the bloody battles of the Boer War. Sent down from university, Matthew Paget enlists to go to South Africa as a trooper. He goes in search of adventure, only to find himself caught up in the turmoil of this beautiful but tragically divided country - and in love with a girl on the enemy side.

Will, his cousin, goes out to the war as a career officer. A man filled with the ideals of duty and service, but swindled by a one-time friend and dazzled by a flirtatious beauty, he discovers a life far removed from peace time Victorian England.

Fighting in a cruel conflict thousands of miles from home, both men, and the women they love, find themselves entangled in a drama they could never have foreseen.