This is a historical study of the career of King James VI and I, as king of Scotland (1567-1625) and England (1603-1625), who achieved a union of the crowns as the first king of Great Britain, and who undertook to end the recurring religious wars. His peacemaking by diplomatic means was complemented by his efforts to foster closer relations among the churches. The peace that he helped to maintain by these initiatives, though cut short by the coming of the Thirty Years' War, was immensely beneficial both to Britain and to the other countries of Europe.