One moment Conrad Schwartz was suffering from a severe hangover as he hiked through the mountains of present-day Poland, the next he was hurled back to the same country in the 13th century.

He remembered from his history classes that in another ten years, Mongol hordes were scheduled to attack, pillage, burn and kill—and Conrad was likely to suffer all of the above. So, he set out to turn Poland into a world power by introducing universal education, aircraft, radios, steamboats, and generally discourage Mongols or anybody else from messing with either Poland or Conrad. But things weren't going to be quite that simple...

* The Mongols were not quite as awed by advanced technology as he had hoped.

* He was under observation by mysterious Time Lords who didn't approve of disruptions in the flow of historical time.

* Last, and anything but least, he had married the formidable Lady Francine, and there was absolutely nothing simple about that noble-born and tempestuous woman.