The English Civil War At First Hand

by TristramHunt (Author)

• New

  Paperback
  2011

  $13.92

  Almost a quarter of a million lives were lost as King and Parliament battled for their religious and political ideals in the English Civil War. England was divided between Cavaliers and Roundheads engaged in bitter struggles from Preston to Lostwithiel, Pembroke to York. Armies were on the march, villages were decimated and great dynasties destroyed: fathers and sons, uncles and cousins were pitted against each other in defence of their loyalties. The civil war led to the execution of a king, the beginnings of sectarian division in Ireland, savage clan warfare in Scotland and the roots of English socialism. Tristram Hunt avoids adding to the many, mostly transitory interpretations of the civil war and instead offers a timeless narrative based on the first-hand accounts of those who witnessed these traumatic events. In doing so he brings out the voices of the civil war generation - those who lost sons, who witnessed massacres and who fought for an ideal. In this book we see their motivations, fears and misery as the horror of war overwhelmed them. From Cromwell's letters to the memoirs of a Roundhead wife the civil war era is brought to life in all its terrible and fascinating glory.

• Used

  Paperback
  2003

  $3.44

  A new history of the English Civil War which uses first-hand contemporaneous accounts to bring the period and its characters to life. As well as the most famous and lively documents, diaries and court cases of the period, the author has uncovered less-known sources to present a fascinating new angle on the years between 1637 and 1652 when Cromwell's Roundheads and Charles I's Cavaliers fought over Anglican reforms and Scottish rule. Written by Tristram Hunt, the up-and-coming celebrity historian, this is both the perfect introduction to the English Civil War and a companion for anyone wanting to delve deeper into its history.