In 1783 Ross Poldark returns from the American War of Independence to his beloved Cornwall to find his world in ruins: his father dead, his house wrecked and his sweetheart engaged.

The year is 1790 and there is riot and revolution in the air. Ross Poldark must fight for his freedom when George Warleggan tries to have him hanged as a revolutionary.

It is 1794, and Ross must traverse new family, new loves and new battles, as the French Revolution casts a shadow over life in Cornwall.

It is 1796. To defend Cornwall and those he loves from an empowered George, Ross must play the political game on a journey that takes him to the nation's capital and into new perils.