A cavalcade of English life from New Year's Eve 1899 until 1933 is seen through the eyes of well-to-do Londoners Jane and Robert Marryot. Amongst events touching their family are the Boer War, the death of Queen Victoria, the sinking of the Titanic, and the Great War.
The children of Iowa farmers find love, with mixed results, at the state fair.
A mother from Arkansas is very possessive of her grown son. To prevent him from getting married she has him drafted into WW I.
