The 'Merry Monarch' was the most popular of kings in his lifetime and has remained so to posterity. This biography seeks to show why and indicates that the secret lay not so much in the positive achievements of his reign as in the essentially human qualities which set him apart from other sovereigns. But Charles, of course, was more than a witty, tolerant, urbane man; he was a ruler of three kingdoms--England, Scotland and Ireland--who reigned at a time of crisis in the affairs of his war-torn lands. In youth, he knew the bitterness of defeat and exile. In manhood, he had to maintain ceaseless opposition to contending factions. The result was a lifetime crowded with struggle and conflict in which, against all odds, he triumphed to preside over a society whose creative achievements in all fields--science, literature, music, and art--are almost unparalleled in English history.