A remarkable popular history of the English Civil War, from the perspectives of those involved in this most significant turning point in British history.
The compelling narrative draws on new sources such as letters, memoirs, ballads and plays to bring to life the Roundheads and Cavaliers, the foot soldiers, war widows and witchfinders of one of the most significant turning points in British history, culminating in Oliver Cromwell’s triumph and the execution of Charles I.
By blending the political and the personal, Diane Purkiss illuminates both the ideologies behind the English Civil War and the fears of those who fought in it; the men who were destroyed by the conflict and those, such as Oliver Cromwell, who were defined by it.
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN: 9780007150625
Number of pages: 400
Weight: 500 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 43 mm
‘Rich, vivid and passionate…a moving, lyrical and principled piece of writing…Purkiss has a gift for evocation.’ Independent ‘You begin to get close to what it would have been like to live through the nine momentous years from 1640 to 1649…it would be hard to imagine anything more irresistible than this rich layer cake of a book, crammed with the stories and the voices that make history human.’ Guardian ‘Purkiss has an eye for the narrative vignette that can illuminate the age.’ Sunday Times ‘Wonderful…Purkiss offers a sumptuous portrait gallery of the men and women who lived, wrote and died during this turbulent period…A joyous read.’ Daily Telegraph ‘Narrative history at its best: gripping, heartfelt, complex.’ Mail on Sunday ‘This book vigorously brings the horror and humanity of the conflict to life.’ Financial Times ‘Light in touch, though grounded in an enormous wealth of documentary material this “people's history” shows how England’s men and women coped with quite extraordinary times.’ Scotsman
Purkiss has drawn on comtemporary accounts of this complex period to show the (often devastating) impact on real people from their own point of view and in their own words. Very different from a traditional top-down... More
Having seen a dramatisation on the TV, I wanted to read a book about the English Civil War. A book that would tell me the facts about what happened during that period of English History. This book gives all sorts of... More
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