The English Civil Wars was the greatest political upheaval in the British Isles in six hundred years. Raging across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the conflict tore families and friendships apart, and led directly to the execution of King Charles I in 1649. Keith Dowen tells the absorbing story of the arms and armour of the civil wars.

This book uses the magnificent collections of arms and armour from the Royal Armouries, augmented by the unique Civil War Armoury at Littlecote House, and others, to show the weapons and armours used by the Englishmen who fought for King or Parliament during the Civil War. The arms and armour of each different type of soldier is described in detail, and their use and effectiveness in battle is fully discussed, with many fascinating quotations from contemporary manuals and memoirs.

Sir, God hath taken away your eldest son by a cannon shot. It brake his leg. We were necessitated to have it cut off, whereof he died.' In one of the most famous and moving letters of the Civil War, Oliver Cromwell told his brother-in-law that on 2 July 1644 Parliament had won an emphatic victory over a Royalist army commanded by King Charles I's nephew, Prince Rupert, on rolling moorland west of York. But that battle, Marston Moor, had also slain his own nephew, the recipient's firstborn. In this vividly narrated history of the deadly conflict that engulfed the nation during the 1640s, Peter Gaunt shows that, with the exception of World War I, the death-rate was higher than any other contest in which Britain has participated. Numerous towns and villages were garrisoned, attacked, damaged or wrecked. The landscape was profoundly altered. Yet amidst all the blood and killing, the fighting was also a catalyst for profound social change and innovation. Charting major battles, raids and engagements, the author uses rich contemporary accounts to explore the life-changing experience of war for those involved, whether musketeers at Cheriton, dragoons at Edgehill or Cromwell's disciplined Ironsides at Naseby (1645).

`The book has a freshness of viewpoint which makes most enjoyable reading.' - Joan Thirsk As the country's largest city, the focus of its trade and cultural life and the possessor of sizeable militia forces and the national capital, London's influence on the country's history has always been very important. In particular its adherence to the parliamentarian cause was crucial to the outcome of the first Civil War and its aloofness from the second Civil War was no less significant. The essays in this volume examine the background to its choice of allegiance, the way in which it was secured for the parliamentary cause in 1642, its contribution to the war effort, the royalists' reaction to its recalcitrance, the impact of the war upon the capital and its importance as the centre of politically inspired ceremonial.

This comprehensive work of reference gives full consideration to the Welsh, Scottish and Irish dimensions of the English Civil War. Entries include biographies of the key personalities, key events, battles, military institutions of the conflict, and covers the runup to the conflict, the war itself and the aftermath.

The English Civil War (1642-53) is one of the most crucial periods in British history. Martyn Bennett introduces the reader to the main debates surrounding the Civil War which continue to be debated by historians. He considers the repercussions both on government and religion, of Parliament's failure to secure stability after the Royalist defeat in 1646, and argues that this opened the way for far more radical reforms. The book deals with the military campaigns in all four nations, placing the war in its full British and Irish context.

A reference dictionary containing over 1,400 entries covering the period 1639-1660, including 625 biographies of English, Scots, and Irish rulers, politicians, soldiers, sailors, and philosophers, and over 300 battles and skirmishes.

This second edition of Historical Dictionary of the British and Irish Civil Wars 1637-1660 contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 700 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, and military technology, as well as descriptions of the battles of the war.

Through a concise historical chronology and comprehensive overview, users of The A to Z of the British and Irish Civil Wars 1637-1660 will find an insightful explanation of the people, places, and events that indelibly shape the United Kingdom's seventeenth-century history. The cross-listed dictionary entries offer a complete explanation of each important aspect of the Civil Wars and their effect on the Kingdom. Also includes maps and a bibliography.

The Civil Wars Experienced is an exciting new history of the civil wars, which recounts their effects on the 'common people'. This engaging survey throws new light onto a century of violence and political and social upheaval By looking at personal sources such as diaries, petitions, letters and social sources including the press, The Civil War Experienced clearly sets out the true social and cultural effects of the wars on the peoples of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland and how common experiences transcended national and regional boundaries. It ranges widely from the Orkneys to Galway and from Radnorshire to Norfolk. The Civil Wars Experienced explores exactly how far-reaching the changes caused by civil wars actually were for both women and men and carefully assesses individual reactions towards them. For most people fear, familial concerns and material priorities dictated their lives, but for others the civil revolutions provided a positive force for their own spiritual and religious development. By placing the military and political developments of the civil wars in a social context, this book portrays a very different interpretation of a century of regicide and republic.