| List of Figures and Maps | |
| Preface | |
| Abbreviations | |
| Introduction | 3 |
| Pt. I | The English Monarchy at War | |
| 1 | Machinery of War: The Council | 17 |
| 2 | The Machinery at Work: At Home and Abroad | 45 |
| 3 | Paying for the War | 59 |
| Pt. II | Waging the War I: The Enemy - Spain | |
| 4 | The Portuguese Voyage, 1588-1589 | 73 |
| 5 | War on the High Seas and in the Indies, 1589-1595 | 97 |
| 6 | War on the Spanish Coasts, 1596-1597 | 107 |
| Pt. III | Waging the War II: The Allies - France | |
| 7 | The Willoughby Expedition, 1589 | 137 |
| 8 | Brittany and Rouen | 152 |
| 9 | Brittany and Rouen: The Second Round | 163 |
| 10 | Brittany and Picardy | 184 |
| 11 | The Cecil Mission and Vervins | 196 |
| 12 | Shuffling Towards Peace, 1598-1603 | 220 |
| Pt. IV | Waging the War III: The Allies - The States General | |
| 13 | From Dependency to Alliance, 1588-1594 | 249 |
| 14 | From Alliance to Collaboration, 1595-1603 | 270 |
| Pt. V | The Three Kingdoms | |
| 15 | The Northern Neighbor, 1581-1603 | 303 |
| 16 | Ireland: The Building of a New Order, 1530-1593 | 329 |
| 17 | Deputy Fitzwilliam and the Macmahon Affair | 349 |
| 18 | Fitzwilliam and the First Rupture With Tyrone | 372 |
| 19 | Russell and the Coming of War | 385 |
| 20 | The Yellow Ford | 404 |
| 21 | The Failure of Essex | 418 |
| 22 | The Triumph of Mountjoy | 431 |
| Pt. VI | The Court: The Revival of Faction | |
| 23 | The Rise of Essex, 1584-1591 | 453 |
| 24 | Essex the Councillor | 472 |
| 25 | England's Glory and the Wide World's Wonder | 495 |
| 26 | The Fall from Grace | 514 |
| Retrospective | 537 |
| Bibliography | 575 |
| Index | 585 |
