The Civil War : The War of the Three Kingdoms 1638-1660

One late summer's day in 1642 two rival armies faced each other across the rolling Warwickshire countryside at Edgehill. There, Royalists faithful to King Charles I engaged in a battle with the supporters of the Parliament. Ahead lay even more desperate battles like Marston Moor and Naseby. The fighting was also to rage through Scotland and Ireland, notably at the siege of Drogheda and the decisive battle of Dunbar. The tumultuous Civil War was a pivotal one in British history. From his shrewd analyses of the multifarious characters who played their parts in the wars to his brilliantly concise descriptions of battles, Trevor Royle has produced a vivid and dramatic narrative of those turbulent years. His book also reveals how the new ideas and dispensations that followed from the wars - Cromwell's Protectorate, the Restoration of Charles II and the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1689 - made it possible for England, Ireland and Scotland to progress towards their own more distant future as democratic societies This Title Provides A General History Of The English Civil War, From Its Outbreak In 1639 To The Last Battle In 1659. Prologue : The Battle Of L?tzen 1632 -- Pt. 1. The Descent To War, 1638-1642. The Illustrious Hope Of Great Britain -- The Personal Rule -- The Crown And The Kirk -- 'that Glorious Marriage Of The Kingdom With God' -- The Assembly In Glasgow -- For Christ's Crown And Covenant : The First Bishops' War -- Foul And Horrid Treason : The Second Bishop's War -- The Gathering Storm -- Ireland In Flames -- The Storm Finally Breaks -- Pt. 2. The First Civil War, 1642-1647. Father Against Son, Brother Against Brother -- First Shots : Edgehill -- The Failure To Take London -- Hearts And Cities : The War To Win The Centre -- Western Wonder : The War In The West Country -- Changing Fortunes : The War In The North -- Stalemate -- Keep Your Powder Dry : Marston Moor -- The Pity Of War -- Smile Out To God In Praises : Naseby -- Montrose's Annus Mirabilis -- Things Fall Apart -- Confederates For The King -- The Beginning Of The End -- The Levellers And The Putney Debates -- The King's Engagement -- Pt. 3. The Second And Third Civil Wars, 1648-1651. Wales Rises For The King -- A Summer Of Discontent -- Nothing But The Hand Of God : Preston -- Pride's Purge -- That Memorable Scene -- The Creation Of A Commonwealth -- Those Barbarous Wretches : Drogheda And Wexford -- The Curse Of Cromwell -- Prince Of Wales, King Of Scotland -- A Signal Mercy : Dunbar -- Hammer Of The Scots -- Hell Or Connacht : The Subjugation Of Scotland And Ireland -- Pt. 4. The Protectorate, 1653-1659. Winning The Peace -- My Delight Amongst The Nations : The Anglo-dutch War -- Cromwell, Lord Protector -- The Cromwellian Settlement In Scotland And Ireland -- 'silly Mean Fellows' : The Rule Of The Major-generals -- Fighting The Lord's Battles : The War Against Spain -- King Cromwell And Tumbledown Dick -- The King Comes Into His Own -- Pt. 5. Restoration, 1660. Revenge And Restraint -- The Settlement Of The Three Kingdoms -- The Civil Wars And Modern Memory -- Epilogue : Lexington And Concord, 1775. Trevor Royle. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [825]-851) And Index. Shrewdly analytical & brilliantly descriptive - this is a general history of the English Civil War from its outbreak in 1638 to the last battle in 1659