The chronicle of the first half of the 17th century is an account of the conflict between Charles Stuart and Oliver Cromwell and the beliefs that impelled them. King and subject were almost exact contemporaries (19 months separated their birth dates). Both were possessed by a deep sense of divine mission, profoundly religious and immovably stubborn. Their ideals set them on a collision course which culminated in one of the most dramatic events in British history: the execution of a reigning sovereign on 30 January 1649.