Rodney Stone is the son of a sailor who wants to go to sea himself. His friend Jim Harrison is the son of a blacksmith, a famous former fighter, and his son also wants to fight.

Taken to London by Rodney’s uncle, Sir Charles Tregellis, a highly respected gentleman and arbiter of fashion who is on familiar terms with the most important people of Regency England, the two young lads find themselves drawn into the racy. colourful but dangerous world of boxing and gambling, and become involved in a series of exciting adventures set in an England where the Prince Regent is all but King and Lord Nelson is all but God.

Written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and first published in 1896, it is dramatised for radio in 4 parts by Constance Cox.