This illustrated narrative history charts the major issues and crises of James' turbulent life and reign using little known material, from state papers to personal correspondence, in The National Archives. Triumph and tragedy abound; from his capture and daring escape during the civil wars to his unshakeable commitment to Catholicism which led to his spectacular fall from power after only three years. The wider implications of his personal tragedy range from the Jacobite rebellions of the next sixty years to the growth of parliamentary power and the development of government in the American colonies.