The English Civil War: Papists, Gentlewomen, Soldiers, and Witchfinders in the Birth of Modern Britain [Paperback]

Diane Purkiss (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 4, 2007

In this compelling history of the violent struggle between the monarchy and Parliament that tore apart seventeenth-century England, a rising star among British historians sheds new light on the people who fought and died through those tumultuous years. Drawing on exciting new sources, including letters, memoirs, ballads, plays, illustrations, and even cookbooks, Diane Purkiss creates a rich and nuanced portrait of this turbulent era. The English Civil War’s dramatic consequences-rejecting the divine right monarchy in favor of parliamentary rule-continue to influence our lives, and in this colorful narrative, Purkiss vividly brings to life the history that changed the course of Western government.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

There are many ways to approach the history of the 17th-century upheaval that beheaded a king and laid the foundations for democratic revolutions to come, and this absorbing, ungainly study tries them all. Oxford historian Purkiss (The Witch in History) draws a gallery of sharp biographical sketches of participants from Cromwell to ordinary soldiers, paying special attention to the oft-neglected doings of women, like aristocratic intriguer Lucy Hay and radical dissenter Anna Trapnel. She also slathers on plenty of social history, digressing on everything from contemporary housing to cookbooks. And she interweaves an avowedly disjointed, episodic kings-and-battles narrative of military campaigns and political maneuverings, replete with dramatic eyewitness accounts. Fixated on trees rather than the forest, Purkiss offers no clear overview of events or much coherent interpretation of the conflict, aside from some facile psychoanalysis ("Charles I's longing to make the monarchy independent of any hurtful criticism proceeded from the bullied child he was"). The book doesn't work as a general introduction, but readers who already know some of the history will find it full of colorful personalities and scenes and evocative period writings that bring to life the people, culture and violent turmoil of the age. Photos. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Addressing the upheaval in 1640s Britain, historian Purkiss eschews categorical hypotheses about the English civil war and favors the perspective provided by contemporaries high and low. In an unprecedented way, the power struggle between Crown and Parliament lifted the lid on society and released a scope of expression about every topic under the sun, from theology to political theory to cookery. In a context permeated by religion, the speeches, the prints, and ultimately the warfare assumed an existential and eschatological character as many parliamentarians carried out their conviction of creating godly government. Polarization demanded momentous personal decisions from king, from noble, from artisan, from farmer; Purkiss' portraiture of people operating in this stressful environment is the outstanding strength of her history. She effectively evokes an impressionistic experience of living through tumultuous times, where the telling detail is as important as the headline event. For the victors, remaking humanity shimmered for egalitarians such as the Levellers. For defeated royalists, the world had simply ended. Purkiss' fluently written history is superbly sensitive to the human personality making its way through great and apocalyptic times. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 680 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (December 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465067573
• ISBN-13: 978-0465067572
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #387,721 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Poorly Written? No, just a different approach, September 3, 2006

By 

Loring D. Wirbel (Colorado Springs, CO United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The English Civil War: Papists, Gentlewoman, Soldiers, and Witchfinders in the Birth of Modern Britain (Hardcover)

It seems that Christopher Drost didn't really know what he was getting into with Diane Purkiss' new book. One should not read this for a comprehensive linear history of the English Civil War. In fact, there are chapters I breezed through because my interest in certain local details wasn't too high. But the forest-trees issue is precisely the point. For a good sense of the Elizabeth-James transition, one could read Leanda De Lisle's "After Elizabeth"; for the war from Charles' perspective, maybe Pauline Gregg's "King Charles I"; for the aftermath of the commonwealth, maybe Mark Kishlansjy's "A Monarchy Transformed." But these books are all broad-brush looks at how the war was perceived by royalist or Puritan leaders. Purkiss tells us what the war felt like from the ground up, and for that we should be grateful. There really isn't another work on the war that takes this particular perspective.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bit disjointed but still good, October 9, 2006

By 

C. Griffith - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The English Civil War: Papists, Gentlewoman, Soldiers, and Witchfinders in the Birth of Modern Britain (Hardcover)

I was able to follow the narrative despite the author's focus on accounts of individuals. This focus gave me a better sense of what it felt like to be a participant in the war (whether or not you wanted to be). Also, unlike other books I've read on the English civil war, I was able to get a sense of which events were truly important: the battle of Naseby, for example, was not merely a defeat for the Royalist forces (as was Maston Moor) but a complete route which left the Royalist forces unable to recover. I do think that the book would benefit from a timeline of important events, so that reader can be reminded of the chronological order of vents. Also a list of the important "characters", with short biographies, would be helpful so that the reader is not confused when an eyewitness who has not been heard from in recent pages reappears.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fine Book, August 7, 2006

By 

Richard W. Hoover Sr. (Old Virginia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The English Civil War: Papists, Gentlewoman, Soldiers, and Witchfinders in the Birth of Modern Britain (Hardcover)

Although I have read only the first 100 pages, must take strong exception to Mr. Drost's disparaging review. Purkiss has not written what Mr. D. was apparently looking for-- a survey of the English Civil War. I'm not sure if we need another. Rather, Purkiss focuses on the cultural and religious bents of the main and of minor players, working in quirks/deformities inherited from childhood. I mean, for example: (A) the overly rigid personality of Charles I (formed from physical and psychological handicaps and from the good bullying he recv'd from his older brother);(B) the Catholicising, aesthetic and good-time drives of Henrietta Maria (what else from the daughter of Marie di Medici and Henry IV?) and (C) the reforming zeal of Arch Bishop Laud who, while no friend of Rome, feared that England's best and brightest would swim the Tiber were he not to reintroduce, and quickly, some Baroque Pizaz into the Church of England and be seen to curb the Scottish and English parties of the "godly."

(A) plus (B) plus (C) plus (D) (the dour, hard-headed and touchy qualities of the "godly," presented in fascinating detail)-- all made for a pretty explosive 17th century mixture! I am starting to feel repeat feel how it all happened. I don't think brain-frying surveys of the English Civil War lay this out half as well as Purkiss has done in her first 100 pages. When I finish, shall report back in case my views have changed. For now, I judge that this is a wonderful book, from cover to cover, starting with the splendid introduction to the 'gentle reader,' lovingly (and cleverly) crafted by Purkiss in the style of her time!