After more than half a century of comparative neglect, the crucial period encompassing Charles I’s captivity after his surrender to the Scots at Newark in 1646 is ripe for re-examination—with new perspectives and insights based on up-to-date research. The months before his trial were a critical watershed when the entire nation stood at a fateful crossroads. For Charles himself, as subterfuge, espionage, and assassination rumors escalated on all fronts, escape attempts foundered, and tensions with his absent wife mounted, the test was supreme. Yet, in a painful passage involving both stubborn impenitence and uncommon fortitude in the face of "barbarous usage" by his captors, the "Man of Blood" came to merit his unique place in history as England’s "martyr king."