Plot Synopsis

Logan Mountstuart is a writer, lover, art dealer, and spy who lives by his wits in the tumultuous 20th century as he goes from Paris in the '20s, the Spanish Civil War in the '30s, British intelligence in the '40s, the New York art scene in the '50s, a left-wing terrorist in the '70s and retirement in southwest France. Along the way he befriends Ernest Hemingway and Ian Fleming, meets Winston Churchill and becomes a favorite of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. But his most intense relationships are with a succession of women that he loves, marries, or otherwise gets to know: first is Tess, the lover of one of his closest friends; next is Land, a fiery intellectual who dumps him when he writes a potboiler; then it's Lottie, a sedate aristocrat who actually likes his novel, so he marries her. On Sunday, February 13, 2010 at 9pm, PBS aired the U.S. premiere as part of MASTERPIECE CLASSIC.