In the second of the 'Strangers and Brothers' series Lewis Eliot tells the story of George Passant, a Midland solicitor's managing clerk and idealist who tries to bring freedom to a group of people in the years 1925 to 1933.

Ten other novels follow this one, but 'Time of Hope' published later in 1949 is set in time before this title and therefore becomes number one in the series.