West Point, New York, 1830. When a cadet at the burgeoning military academy is found hanged with his heart cut out, the top brass summons former New York City constable Augustus Landor to investigate. While attempting to solve this grisly mystery, the reluctant detective engages the help of one of the cadets: a strange but brilliant young fellow by the name of Edgar Allan Poe.

Lucien de Rubempré, a young, lower-class poet, leaves his family's printing house for Paris. Soon, he learns the dark side of the arts business as he tries to stay true to his dreams.

In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.

In Edo Japan, a kabuki actor seeks revenge against the three men who drove his parents to their deaths years ago.

A lay preacher arrives at a British settlement in 1830s New Zealand. His violent past is soon drawn into question, and his faith put to the test, as he finds himself caught in the middle of a bloody war between Maori tribes.

The story of a Pogorzelski nobleman who settled in the castle in Samsonów to renovate a damaged building. However, he is disturbed by the ghost of the former owner.

The story of the Opium War between China, in the waning days of the Qing Dynasty, and the British Empire, in the 1830s, and the subsequent takeover of Hong Kong by Britain; through the eyes of the key figures, fiercely nationalistic Lin Zexu, and opportunistic British naval diplomat Charles Elliot.

A nobleman in 1830's Finland has to contend with stuck-up relatives, his daughters' suitors, dark secrets from his family's past, mistaken identities and a haunted wing of his mansion.