A Brief History of the English Civil Wars

Author: John Miller
Publisher: Robinson
ISBN: 1472107624
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 165

Book Description
Miller provides a clear and comprehensible narrative, a coherent and accurate synthesis, intended as a guide for students and the general reader to an extremely complex period in British history. His aim is to help readers avoid getting lost in a maze of detail and rather to maintain a grasp of the big picture. Although the English Civil War is usually seen, in England at least, as a conflict between two sides, it involved the Scots, the Irish and the army and the people of England, especially London. At some points, events occurred and perspectives changed with such disorienting rapidity that even those who lived through these events were confused as to where they stood in relation to one another. As the 1640s wore on, events unfolded in ways which the participants had not expected and in many cases did not want. Hindsight might suggest that everything led logically to the trial and execution of the king, but these were in fact highly improbable outcomes. Since the 1980s, a 'three kingdoms' approach has become almost compulsory, but Miller's focus is unashamedly on England. Events in Scotland and Ireland are covered only insofar as they had an impact on events in England.

God's Fury, England's Fire

Author: Michael Braddick
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141926511
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 784

Book Description
The sequence of civil wars that ripped England apart in the seventeenth century was the single most traumatic event in this country between the medieval Black Death and the two world wars. Indeed, it is likely that a greater percentage of the population were killed in the civil wars than in the First World War. This sense of overwhelming trauma gives this major new history its title: God’s Fury, England’s Fire. The name of a pamphlet written after the king’s surrender, it sums up the widespread feeling within England that the seemingly endless nightmare that had destroyed families, towns and livelihoods was ordained by a vengeful God – that the people of England had sinned and were now being punished. As with all civil wars, however, ‘God’s fury’ could support or destroy either side in the conflict. Was God angry at Charles I for failing to support the true, protestant, religion and refusing to work with Parliament? Or was God angry with those who had dared challenge His anointed Sovereign? Michael Braddick’s remarkable book gives the reader a vivid and enduring sense both of what it was like to live through events of uncontrollable violence and what really animated the different sides. The killing of Charles I and the declaration of a republic – events which even now seem in an English context utterly astounding – were by no means the only outcomes, and Braddick brilliantly describes the twists and turns that led to the most radical solutions of all to the country’s political implosion. He also describes very effectively the influence of events in Scotland, Ireland and the European mainland on the conflict in England. God’s Fury, England’s Fire allows readers to understand once more the events that have so fundamentally marked this country and which still resonate centuries after their bloody ending.

The English Civil War

Author: Nick Lipscombe
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472847164
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 369

Book Description
'The English Civil War is a joy to behold, a thing of beauty... this will be the civil war atlas against which all others will judged and the battle maps in particular will quickly become the benchmark for all future civil war maps.' -- Professor Martyn Bennett, Department of History, Languages and Global Studies, Nottingham Trent University The English Civil Wars (1638–51) comprised the deadliest conflict ever fought on British soil, in which brother took up arms against brother, father fought against son, and towns, cities and villages fortified themselves in the cause of Royalists or Parliamentarians. Although much historical attention has focused on the events in England and the key battles of Edgehill, Marston Moor and Naseby, this was a conflict that engulfed the entirety of the Three Kingdoms and led to a trial and execution that profoundly shaped the British monarchy and Parliament. This beautifully presented atlas tells the whole story of Britain's revolutionary civil war, from the earliest skirmishes of the Bishops' Wars in 1639–40 through to 1651, when Charles II's defeat at Worcester crushed the Royalist cause, leading to a decade of Stuart exile. Each map is supported by a detailed text, providing a complete explanation of the complex and fluctuating conflict that ultimately meant that the Crown would always be answerable to Parliament.

The English Civil War

Author: Diane Purkiss
Publisher:
ISBN: 0786732628
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 677

Book Description
In this compelling history of the violent struggle between the monarchy and Parliament that tore apart seventeenth-century England, a rising star among British historians sheds new light on the people who fought and died through those tumultuous years. Drawing on exciting new sources, including letters, memoirs, ballads, plays, illustrations, and even cookbooks, Diane Purkiss creates a rich and nuanced portrait of this turbulent era. The English Civil War’s dramatic consequences-rejecting the divine right monarchy in favor of parliamentary rule-continue to influence our lives, and in this colorful narrative, Purkiss vividly brings to life the history that changed the course of Western government.

The English Civil Wars

Author: Blair Worden
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
ISBN: 0297857592
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 153

Book Description
A brilliant appraisal of the Civil War and its long-term consequences, by an acclaimed historian. The political upheaval of the mid-seventeenth century has no parallel in English history. Other events have changed the occupancy and the powers of the throne, but the conflict of 1640-60 was more dramatic: the monarchy and the House of Lords were abolished, to be replaced by a republic and military rule. In this wonderfully readable account, Blair Worden explores the events of this period and their origins - the war between King and Parliament, the execution of Charles I, Cromwell's rule and the Restoration - while aiming to reveal something more elusive: the motivations of contemporaries on both sides and the concerns of later generations.

The English Civil Wars

Author: Patrick Little
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1780743327
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 166

Book Description
A king beheaded. A monarchy abolished. And a commoner leading a republic by military rule set in their place. The wars that tore through the country in the mid-seventeenth century – splitting government, communities and families alike – were a true watershed in English history. But how, with Queen Elizabeth I’s Golden Age still in living memory, did such a situation arise? Exploring the period’s political disputes, religious conflicts and military battles, Patrick Little scrutinizes the nature and practicalities of conducting a civil war on English soil, as well as the experiences and motivations of key factions and combatants. By assessing how the realities of life in England shaped the conflict –and were torn apart by it – this wonderfully readable Beginner’s Guide gets to the very heart of how a people came to kill their king.

The English Civil War

Author: Philip J. Haythornthwaite
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description

Scenes and Traces of the English Civil War

Author: Stephen Bann
Publisher: Reaktion Books
ISBN: 1789142288
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 289

Book Description
The English Civil War has become a frequent point of reference in contemporary British political debate. A bitter and bloody series of conflicts, it shook the very foundations of seventeenth-century Britain. This book is the first attempt to portray the visual legacy of this period, as passed down, revisited, and periodically reworked over two and a half centuries of subsequent English history. Highly regarded art historian Stephen Bann deftly interprets the mass of visual evidence accessible today, from ornate tombs and statues to surviving sites of vandalism and iconoclasm, public signage, and historical paintings of human subjects, events, and places. Through these important scenes and sometimes barely perceptible traces, Bann shows how the British view of the War has been influenced and transformed by visual imagery.

Background to the English Civil War

Author: Frank W. Jessup
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 1483181073
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 199

Book Description
Background to the English Civil War is a collection of literature that attempts to address various queries about the English civil war. The book is comprised 13 chapters that cover various concerns in the conflict. The text first covers the arrival of the Stuarts, and then proceeds to present materials about Charles I. Chapter 3 tackles the growing tension between the king and the population. The next chapter deals with early stages of the war. Next, the book details the execution of Charles I, the battle that comes after, and the eventual restoration of the Stuarts. The selection will be of great use to readers who have a keen interest in English history.

A Military History of the English Civil War

Author: Malcolm Wanklyn
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317868390
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 299

Book Description
A Military History of the English Civil War examines how the civil war was won, who fought for whom, and why it ended. With a straightforward style and clear chronology that enables readers to make their own judgements and pursue their own interests further, this original history provides a thorough critique of the reasons that have been cited for Parliament's victory and the King's defeat in 1645/46. It discusses the strategic options of the Parliamentary and Royalist commanders and councils of war and analyses the decisions they made, arguing that the King’s faulty command structure was more responsible for his defeat than Sir Thomas Fairfax's strategic flair. It also argues that the way that resources were used, rather than the resources themselves, explain why the war ended when it did.