The world changes, Asia grows, American might declines, and four great families jostle for influence. Meet the cosmopolitan McAffreys, transplanted from New York to the gilded cage of Singapore; the Chans of Malaysia, haughty, aristocratic, squabbling over their empire whilst the country around them burns; the Cheungs of Hong Kong, brilliant, cultivated, and driven by shadowy purpose; and the Baos of China, an illustrious family brought low.

In a story that spans the globe, that steps deftly between East and West, from the skyscrapers of Hong Kong to the cobbled streets of London, from the forbidding halls of Zhongnanhai to the gothic quads of Yale, the scions of these clans find their way in the world as tensions rise between China and America. As the two superpowers lurch towards war, the fates of these characters become increasingly intertwined in the contest, in a deadly struggle for power, and a Davos plot to remake world order.

This is a history of the future. It’s a story about the world today and the world tomorrow and how it is indelibly shaped by the past.