The collection of the famous English writer William Ainsworth includes two works telling about the most dramatic episodes from the history of Foggy Albion. The events of the novel “The Struggle for the Throne” take place in the second half of the 17th century. During a coup d'état, popularly called the “Glorious Revolution,” King James II of the Scottish Stuart dynasty was overthrown and took refuge in France. Power passed into the hands of the ruler of the Netherlands, William of Orange. But will the proud Scot be able to come to terms with his loss, especially when he has such a powerful patron as King Louis XIV? The novel “Wat Tyler” clearly shows the rebellious England of the era of Richard II, in which the Black Death was replaced by the self-interested nobility that strangled country with exorbitant taxes. Blacksmith Wat Tyler decides to prove to the king that the people know how not only to hit the anvil with a hammer and bend their backs in front of their feudal lord.