The English historian S.V. Wedgwood is known for her studies of the era of the Great Rebellion in Britain of the XVII century. This book examines the beginning of this historical drama, the first four years of the reign of Charles I, during which the country was on the verge of civil war. The author describes the political, economic and religious strife of the growing tragedy of the three countries of the British Isles — England, Scotland and Ireland: tells about the uprising of the Scottish Covenanters, about the battles in the English parliament, about the terrible fate of the Lord Governor of Ireland, Earl Strafford, about the events of those few years that influenced the history of continental Europe.