Viewing history as a grand drama, Froude emphasized great personalities and disdained the scientific approach in his historical writing. This epic, twelve-volume narrative presents a vivid portrait of a tumultuous era. This final volume discusses the religious state of England and the murder of the Prince of Orange, Prince William I, in 1584. It closes, of course, with the death of Elizabeth in 1603 and the author's reflections upon the whole period of his narrative.