The Battle of Naseby in June 1645 was followed by almost three years of hard and bitter fighting. After the calamitous Royalist defeat, the determination that had sustained the King's cause thus far had all but disappeared. Only the Royalist cavalry had escaped from Naseby; the remainder of the King's army, his infantry and his artillery, had been either destroyed or captured during the battle.
The execution of King Charles in January 1649 was not the final chapter in one of Britain's most tragic stories. If the people of the British Isles imagined a new era of peace and stability, they were to be sorely disappointed.
The fascinating story of how an insignificant and poverty stricken - but deeply ambitious - underdog amongst Europe's aristocratic houses managed to manoeuvre its children onto thrones across the world from Norway to Portugal, from Britain to Greece, from Sweden to Bulgaria.
From state affairs to family gossip, Queen Victoria poured her emotions into her diaries with such honesty that those close to her were afraid lest her more alarming opinions escape and prove catastrophic for the young Queen. Indeed, after her death many of her diaries were burned by her own daug...
