Growing up in the slums of East End London, Charlie Trumper dreams of someday running his grandfather's fruit and vegetable barrow. That day comes suddenly when his grandfather dies leaving him the floundering business. With the help of Becky Salmon, an enterprising young woman, Charlie sets out to make a name for himself as "The Honest Trader". But the brutal onset of World War I takes Charlie far from home and into the path of a dangerous enemy whose legacy of evil follows Charlie and his family for generations.
Encompassing three continents and spanning over sixty years, As the Crow Flies brings to life a magnificent tale of one man's rise from rags to riches set against the backdrop of a changing century.
As the crow flies, it's only a few short miles from the poverty of Whitechapel to Chelsea Terrace where Trumper's, the world's largest department store, will have its beginnings. But for Charlie Trumper, the distance will be an epic journey that carries him across three continents and through the triumphs and disasters of the 20th century.