Parker’s latest book brings together ten of his seminal essays, ranging from a study of Philip II’s global strategy, through treason in Elizabethan England and the ‘etiquette of atrocity’ in early modern warfare, to the conviction of Protestant Reformers that they had failed in their mission. One of the book’s predominant themes concerns how often and how quickly seeming success can turn into failure, and many of his essays examine such cases of defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. Like all Parker’s work, these pieces are lucid, provocative and engaging, and provide a stimulating selection of the work of one of the world’s leading historians.