King Charles I succeeded his father James I in 1625 from when political and religious upheaval dogged his reign before his authoritarian rule eventually led to civil war and ultimately his execution.
In 1685 King James II succeeded his brother to the throne. As the last of the Stuart Kings he would reign for only 3 years until none other than his own daughter, Mary, brought about his downfall.
Oliver Cromwell's commonwealth came to an end soon after his death and, in 1660, the exiled King returned to London with an enormous fanfare only to face the dual tragedies of the worst outbreak of plague in generations and the Great Fire of London.
Writer Tracy Borman explores the life of Elizabeth I, looking into her relationships with her closest attendants and her attitudes to, and treatment of, other women as well as her erotically charged love affairs and her love of tooth-rotting sugar.
