Prologue : the sacrificial priest -- A wounded and divided land, 1558-1566. The new Deborah -- The realm and the ministers of Lucifer -- Determined to be a virgin queen -- Many an uneasy truce -- The battle for hearts and minds -- Untrustworthy allies -- Christ's soldiers -- Mary Stuart, the great Catholic threat -- The Catholic ascendancy, 1566-1580. Betrayal amid dreamy spires -- The iconoclastic fury -- Two murders and mayhem -- An ill-conceived escape and rebellion -- Regnans in excelsis -- The English state, plots and counterplots -- Massacre in Paris -- The Puritan underworld of London -- Via Dolorosa -- The years of religious terror, 1580-1591. God's outriders -- The ungodly witch hunts -- Frustrating the designs of our enemies -- A long-awaited execution -- God's obvious design -- A house divided, 1591-1603. The Norfolk landing -- Marprelate, Puritans, Catholics, and players -- Elizabeth's éminence grise and the final battles for England -- Epilogue.