English Civil War

Blair Worden revisits Hugh Trevor-Roper’s essay on the radicalism of the Puritan gentry, a typically stylish and ambitious contribution to a fierce controversy.

Graham Goodlad examines differing interpretations of the part played by King Charles I in the outbreak of the civil war.

Though superb works of art in themselves, the wildlife paintings of Francis Barlow are full of rich metaphors that shed light on the anxieties and concerns of a Britain emerging from the horrors of civil war, says Nathan Flis.

Despite their mutual loathing and suspicion, James I and his parliaments needed one another, as Andrew Thrush explains. The alternative, ultimately, was civil war.

Decadent, effeminate, outdated, the image of the Cavalier remains that of his enemies, victorious in the Civil Wars. John Stubbs offers a rather more complex corrective view.

Richard Cavendish remembers the birth of Birth of the First Earl of Clarendon on February 18, 1609. 

Blair Worden considers the enduring and sometimes surprising consequences of the execution of King Charles I.

Puritan souls may hide a cavalier approach to clothes, according to Patrick Little as he explores fashion at the court of Oliver Cromwell.

Richard Hughes shows there is more of historical interest to William Prynne than his famous auditory organs.

Graham Goodlad surveys the variety of interpretations offered by historians of Cromwellian rule in the 1650s.

Patrick Little asks why Parliament offered the infamous regicide the crown of England, to what extent he was tempted to take it – and why he finally turned it down.

Robin Evans assesses the contribution of the Welsh to the troubles of 1642-49.

Richard Cust reassesses the thinking behind the biggest military blunder of the English Civil War, Charles I’s decision to fight the New Model Army at Naseby in June 1645.