Between 1199 and 1399, the story of politics in England was full of high drama. These two centuries witnessed: three civil wars; two depositions duly followed by royal murders; an unsuccessful plot to kill another king; three bouts of political blood-letting including battle, executions and murder; a pandemic in which somewhere between thirty and fifty percent of England's population perished; national economic crisis; and the first large-scale peasant rebellion in English history. It is the dynamic story of these two centuries, and the emergent idea of statehood, that this book seeks to tell. It naturally draws on earlier work, but adds arresting research and perceptive analysis to draw contemporary links and resonance in government, international relations and the egos and ambitions of various political actors. These colourful and arresting individuals stride through the story of Arise, England. . . but arguably the greatest character is the emerging English state itself.