The English Civil Wars: 1640-1660

A lot of information in a small book. A very good introduction into the English Civil Wars.

Yes, I know it's really English and British history, but my primary motivation was to learn American history, or what came right before American history. I'm trying to understand why the Founding Fathers of the USA were the way they were, and it occurred that the English civil wars may have been very influential on their desire for a decentralized government that allowed for freedom of conscience and worship, and that they may not have originated those ideas completely on their own.This to me was the best "first book" on the English Civil Wars I could have hoped to acquire and read.

I had very little knowledge of the English Civil Wars, so the book did give me a very high-level overview of many of the complex and intermingled issues that caused it. However, it feels to develop any of the personalities so I didn’t really have much of a connection to it was happening and to whom it was happening. My biggest complaint however; is that the book takes a tremendous amount of focus to read because it is completely full of comma splices, run on sentences, and the overuse of clauses. Here is a very common example of how the entire book is written: “Charles II, having learned the lesson of his alliance with the Presbyterians, had recently permitted only the network known as the Sealed Knot, which favored the uncompromising royalist and Anglican stance of Hyde, to conspire within England on his behalf.”

The history of the British Civil Wars is weighed down by the preponderance of English Tories among its authors. Blair Worden 's undoubted scholarly mastery of basic factual detail is marred by his stubborn judgement that, for England at least, the Cromwellian interlude was a giant waste of time, effort and blood with little significance for what has followed. The 17th century in England witnessed the final collapse of the institutions of feudalism and the first building of the foundation of the modern state. Worden, steeped in the work and biographies of literary figures of the period, and drenched in Tory prejudice, is a poor guide to the state-building activity that he only grudgingly acknowledges. Charles I, who managed the singular feat of provoking a war in which he was responsible for financing the armies of both sides, is treated as facing dutifully great challenges that would overwhelm any man, when in fact his greatest challenge was his own epic incompetence. The notion that Cromwell represented and embodied an impulse in the English polity to make self-governance thru deliberative processes work is scorned, rather than considered. The possibility that absolute monarchy, entailing the intrigues of court politics and dynastic considerations, could be reconciled with the modern government of a nation-state was given a long trial with the Stuarts and ultimately the clear answer was, no. Cromwell proved to be good at the job, a fact duly noted.

i have been looking for a good, well written introduction to the english civil wars and this was recommended to me by a friend who thought it was "excellent." as an american with little background in 17th century religious and political (often much the same thing, it seems), i found this short book not nearly as good for my needs as i hoped. it felt almost like a "Cliff Notes" version of history: names, towns, battles everything goes by very quickly with no or very little backround as to who the people are and what were the seeds of their actions. for instance, there is a lot of talk about the pilgrims but very little explanation about who they were or why they were so agitated. the feeling i had was that if one already knew the subject (by at least studying it in school), it would probably be a good reminder, highlights book. the reviews say it's wonderful but it all went by so fast without a context that would make it memorable for me.

The book jacket touts Mr. Worden as an expert scholar of this period of English history. I have no reason to doubt that, but he is not a particularly good writer. The text would have been improved by better editing. Every 2-3 pages, Mr. Worden uses some word in a way that seems slightly out of context, or uses slightly odd punctuation, or refers to events not yet described. While these defects certainly do not make his text unreadable, they are just enough to be mildly distracting.That said, even with better editing this would not be a great read, as very little of the personalities of the principal players comes through. I came away with almost no sense of what Oliver Cromwell, perhaps the key player of this period, was like as a man. In addition, the author frequently mentions Lord So-and-So in one or two sentences on page X, then next refers to him by last name only 10 or 20 pages later, leaving the reader to thumb back through many pages looking for the original mention.

Reads like a college lecture from a stodgy old professor.

Unlike many of the books I've read on the English civil war, Worsen focuses on the political and religious implications and results of a war.His text continues until the restoration under Charles II. This provides s different view and an interesting story of the many divisions that plagued the parliamentary adherents.

A worthwhile introduction to the subject that usefully gets one 'up to speed' with the terminology of the period - Cavaliers, Roundheads, Independents, Presbyterians, Diggers, Levellers, etc etc - that enables one to get to grips with the confusing scene. Not too much time spent on the actual battles of the Civil Wars which I found good as ones concentration wasn't diverted from gaining an overall impression of the conflict(s). Nicely written with an easy, flowing, prose style conducive to keeping one going.

If there is one signal feature of the period 1640-1660 it is the complexity of those forces which brought the country to war with itself. Blair Worden's authoritative survey of the key issues,events and personalities is an excellent introduction to the subject. The narrative that he presents is both coherent and accessible without plunging into befuddling minutiae at any point. An inspirational read for anyone wishing to pursue a deeper knowledge of the conflict.

This is a good book about the English Civil War. I'm half way through and it reads like a story.He encapsulates everything about the English Civil war and it's not taking me long to read at all.I would recommend this book to others, as I've read others and they're quite dull and heavy to read.

After reading the reviews I was looking for to this book but found if very dry and uninteresting.

A good place to start. But I don't think this is a comprehensive history.