It''s the Spring of 1747. A soldier returns home to the picturesque village of Goudhurst in the High Weald of the southeastern English county of Kent.

William Sturt had been caught on his first smuggling run in a set up orchestrated by his boyhood arch rival, Thomas Kingsmill. A Justice of the Peace, loathe to see him hung or transported to America under the nation’s harsh laws, cut a deal that Sturt joined the army

Kingsmill has now risen to become the leader of the Hawkhurst Gang, the most notorious – and violent - of the organised crime gangs.

Goudhurst’s villagers are fearful - some have abandoned their houses and left for good. Sturt forms a militia to fight the Hawkhurst Gang, but when they rumble the militia’s plans, Sturt has fewer than 30 hours to mount a defence. Will the militia succeed, or will the gang burn Goudhurst to the ground?