The Last of the Barons

London becomes the prize that turns Edward IV's struggle with Warwick toward a final reckoning, as fear, opportunism, and shifting loyalties sweep the city. Civic leaders hesitate, but Edward's supporters rally merchants, clergy, women, and armed men until the Tower is surrendered and Henry VI is once again a captive. Warwick, forced beyond maneuvering, prepares for battle at Barnet, while Edward secures London, gathers reinforcements, and places trusted allies like Nicholas Alwyn in command. Amid the military crisis, private heartbreak cuts just as deeply. Hastings confesses to Sibyll that he is already married, and her calm restraint gives way to a fierce, eloquent protest against betrayal, ending in a sorrowful farewell that releases him to war. Elsewhere, Gloucester and the Duchess of Bedford enlist Friar Bungey to counter feared enemy sorcery, and the friar demands custody of Adam Warner and his machine, the Eureka. Adam is seized, Sibyll is taken with him, and the wagon carrying them rolls into the fog with the army. At Barnet and Gladsmoor Heath, mist, cannon fire, superstition, and brutal speeches frame the conflict as a decisive struggle for England's future, where old feudal power gives way to a harsher political order. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.