"When a team of crack French troops are sent by Napoleon to sever the arteries of Britain's war effort, which hero sprang to his country's aid?Who rescued the huntsmen of Shropshire from a rampaging bear? From providing a getaway craft for families seeking refuge during the Swing Riots, to saving the reputation of a clerical gentleman and pursuing criminals into the fetid waters of the River Thames, there is only one man who claims to have done them all. Even if he probably did not, he might have done something like it. At least, he almost certainly did not accidentally shoot Lord Nelson. In an attempt to fight off the forces of oppression, be they his daughter or the changing notions of decency in the nineteenth century, Job Carter looks back over his life in the hope of annoying his daughter, provoking local men of the cloth, and even teaching the younger generations - who have all improved themselves considerably - something about real life in the good old days. Or maybe he was just making it all up. Who knows?" Ten short stories, set in the changing world of nineteenth century working life in the English Midlands. Well, for the most part.