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

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Key Phrases: good old cause, plum pottage, cookery writers, Henrietta Maria, Anna Trapnel, New Model (more...)

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 the Hardcover edition.

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 the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 680 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (December 3, 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: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #181,301 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #20 in	Books > History > Europe > England > Medieval
  #47 in	Books > History > Europe > England > Tudor & Stuart
  #60 in	Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Political Science > Political History

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 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 (REAL NAME)

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.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In depth history, with a focus on the people involved, October 2, 2006

By	Steven A. Peterson (Hershey, PA (Born in Kewanee, IL)) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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This review is from: The English Civil War: Papists, Gentlewoman, Soldiers, and Witchfinders in the Birth of Modern Britain (Hardcover)

If you want a history of the battles of the English Civil War, this is not the book for you. If you are interested in the human side of this horrific period, then this is a book for you. While the battles are mentioned, they are placed in a much broader context.

This is a history of the English Civil War, told to a considerable extent through the words of observers and participants. Letters and diaries of people such as Brilliana Harley; tracts by Garrard Winstanley (a leading Digger); the debate at Putney, between leaders and Levellers add a very human element to this history.

The befuddled King Charles I and his strong-willed Queen, Henrietta Maria, are portrayed in enough depth that the reader can come to understand how they sealed their fates by being unable to recognize a changing reality.

The book takes into account religious disputes, political currents, and military developments.

For any reader interested in this critical moment in English history, this is a book well worth purchasing and reading.

9 of 10 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 (REAL NAME)

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.