With the end of the colonies' fight for independence begins a new and even more glorious battle to build a new nation. It is an epoch ripe with the passion that only a country in its spring time can inflame, and two young heirs to a family dynasty dare to confront without fear the barbarity of the West -- the Indian resistance, cruel townships, death...

Here is a panorama of magnificent action, peopled by some of the bravest characters of an age. When Abraham Kent falls in love with his step-sister, he sets in motion a fate that will drive a generation westward -- until Amanda, a girl-child with the heart of a woman, seeks the new frontier that is this land's greatest opportunity -- and most awesome dread.