During the 1930s, the British built the first ever early warning defense system made up of a chain of radar installations that ran along Britain's east coast. These installations were called Chain Home stations and one of them was called Swingate. It was located very close to Dover, across the twenty- mile Strait from the French city of Calais. Swingate's was one of the most valuable early warning radar system and was a key factor in the British victory during the Battle of Britain.

This novel is a fictionalized account of the lives of two people during the World War II Battle of Britain and the bombing campaign by the German Luftwaffe during what came to be known as the London Blitz. They are an American named Jeffrey Bartlett and a British woman named Catherine Hartley. They meet and fall in love in London amidst the backdrop of the year during which Britain stood alone and saved civilization. When it looked as if the sensible thing to do would be to make peace with Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, the British people steeled themselves under the leadership of the British Bulldog, Winston Churchill, and persevered against enormous odds.