The fourth and final volume of S.R. Gardiner's HISTORY OF THE GREAT CIVIL WAR traces events from October 1647 and Charles' escape from his confinement at Hampton Court to the tragic climax of the King's execution in January 1649. Gardiner shows that the King's duplicity and intransigence made it increasingly difficult for his more moderate adversaries to prevent an inevitable call for his elimination from those whose frustration at his behaviour eventually won the day. Oliver Cromwell was one of the last of the group who signed the death warrant to be persuaded that this drastic course of action was justified. In this volume Gardiner also deals with the Second Civil War which ended in comprehensive defeat for the Royalist cause with Cromwell's victory over the Scots at Preston and Fairfax's successful suppression of opposition in the South East with the surrender of Colchester. It was during this period that Oliver Cromwell made the transition from being a leading general (effectively second in command to Fairfax) to a position after the King's execution where he was poised for even greater things.