Cavaliers and Roundheads: The English Civil War, 1642-1649 - Hardcover

Christopher Hibbert

3.61

157 ratings by Goodreads

9780246136329: Cavaliers and Roundheads: The English Civil War, 1642-1649

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0246136324 ISBN 13: 9780246136329

Publisher: BCA, 1993

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A social and military history of the Civil War that split the country 350 years ago. In a field in Nottingham in the summer of 1642, King Charles I watched his standard being raised in a high wind and driving rain. For six years thereafter England was rent by civil war. Families and friends were bitterly divided as men left home to fight for King or Parliament. Castles and towns were besieged and attacked, houses were plundered, churches and cathedrals desecrated. Some 200,000 lives were lost, many from the plague. The book recreates scenes of war and is enlivened by revealing character sketches - of the slight, sad, obstinate King, his ruthless nephew Prince Rupert and the forceful Oliver Cromwell, as well as a large cast of less familiar characters. This book commemorates the 350th anniversary of the Civil War. Other books by Chistopher Hibbert include "George IV", "The Rise and Fall of the House of Medici", "Rome: The Biography of a City", "The English: A Social History" and "Redcoats and Rebels: The War for America 1770-81".

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From Kirkus Reviews:

A rollicking, if not always enlightening, narrative history of the English Civil War, by the prolific Hibbert (The American Revolution through British Eyes, 1990, etc.). Hibbert concentrates with some success ``upon what happened rather than upon what brought it about, upon the minor engagements [rather] than the major battles, and upon the impact the fighting had upon the civilian population.'' Neither before nor since has there been a war in England that so swept up everyone in its path: By its end (signalled by the execution of Charles I), nearly 200,000 lives had been lost--80,000 killed in the fighting and more than 100,000 from accidents and disease in plague-ridden towns. Throughout, Hibbert displays an eye for the curious and illuminating detail--quoting poet and playwright Thomas May, for instance, on Cromwell's New Model Army: ``Never did hardly any Army go forth to war with less confidence on their own side.'' The author succeeds in conveying the ruthlessness of war and the fears and anguish of those who fought (``Oh Lord, thou knowest how busy I must be this day. If I forget thee, do not thou forget me,'' wrote one soldier on the eve of battle), and he conveys most of his material with great vividness (the Earl of Newcastle was a ``rich and generous dilettante, skilled horseman, graceful dancer, indifferent playwright, and execrable poet''). But what's sorely lacking is the background that Hibbert deliberately avoids: Why the war occurred; why there was a growth of class consciousness at the time; why religious animosities grew so deep; and how a revered monarchy came to be overthrown. Without this information, Hibbert can't escape the besetting vice of much narrative history--that it so often seems like just one cursed thing after another. (Eight-page photo insert) -- Copyright �1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Library Journal:

In his 29th book, renowned historian Hibbert (Balliol Coll., Oxford) brilliantly provides an energetic narrative history of the English Civil War. Hibbert vividly illuminates the dark, fascinating period in English history when treason and royal beheadings were commonplace. The real strength of this title is that although it is a book about history, it isn't a typical history book. Rather than concentrating on well-known battles and facts about the Civil War, the author instead furnishes little-known informative vignettes, discusses the less impressive sieges, and reveals what happened rather than why it happened. Hibbert's portrait of Oliver Cromwell and his colorful depiction of the ill-fated Stuart kings are notable. Clearly not a book for the history scholar, this could be used as a valuable introduction to more scholarly works on the subject. Strongly recommended for general collections in English history and biography.
- Terri-Leigh Hinkle, Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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