1445: Henry VI is married by proxy to Margaret of Anjou, an unpopular choice that causes national uproar. At the same time, the infant Margaret Beaufort is made a great heiress following the death of the Earl of Somerset. Everyone is competing to be her guardian: she brings with her the Beaufort fortune and an advantageous alliance with her uncle. In the years that follow, English rule in France collapses, Henry VI goes insane, civil war erupts and families are pitted against each other. 'Succession' tells the thrilling, bloody s.