The novelist R. F. Delderfield¿s trilogy of English life in the second half of the nineteenth century portrays the social history of Adam Swann and his family, energetic people of differing talents and tempers involved in a kaleidoscopic range of social engagements. Born into a military family but shaken by his army experience in India, Adam returns to civilian life in England and creates an innovative goods-hauling service across the country. Adam¿s ten children are also innovators who provide the intellectual activity expressed by the phrase «The Ethos of Britain.» In the novels a whole country is energized by a handful of individuals who recognize and