Britain in Revolution : 1625-1660:

Britain in Revolution is the story of the upheavals in England, Scotland, and Ireland that broke the course of royal government for two decades and more. Austin Woolrych evokes the drama of the Civil Wars, the clashes of conviction and emotion that they engendered, their impact on the lives of the people, and the wealth of new ideas generated by the breakdown of the old order in church and state. He brilliantly interweaves the history of the three kingdoms and peoples, gripping the reader with the fast-paced yet always balanced story. - ;This is the definitive history of the English Civil War, set in its full historical context from the accession of Charles I to the Restoration of Charles II. These were the most turbulent years of British history and their reverberations have been felt down the centuries. Throughout the middle decades of the seventeenth century England, Scotland, and Ireland were convulsed by political upheaval and wracked by rebellion and civil war. The Stuart monarchy was in abeyance for twenty years in all three kingdoms, and Charles I famously met his death on the scaffold. Austin Woolrych breathes life back into the story of these years, the sweep of his prose buttressed by the authority of a lifetime's scholarship. He captures the drama and the passion, the momentum of events and the force of contingency. He brilliantly interweaves the history of the three kingdoms and their peoples, gripping the reader with the fast-paced yet always balanced story. - ;... deeply learned, tightly constructed, expertly orchestrated and elegantly written ... attractively priced ... effective and well-chosen illustrations ... Always informative and often illuminating. - European Review of History;This is a formidable and convincing study. Whilst the book can be dipped into, because of its clear and precise structure, the whole text should be essential reading for anyone taking an interest in the period. - History Review;The triumph of the book lies in the subtlety of its interpretation, which is often a matter of nuance rather than statement. This is the master work of a highly distinguished historian. - History;The publisher's blurb is exactly right: this magnificent book, the fruit of a long lifetime of pondering and scholarship in the field, abounds with 'astute analysis and penetrating insight' ... This extended and professionally paced narrative does 'capture the drama and the passion'; and it manages always to be more than narrative, deftly weaving a satisfying interpretative line into the story of civil war and its aftermath in the three kingdoms. - History;Britain in Revolution will serve as a useful summary of one of the most confused and confusing periods of British history ... students will find Woolrych a reliable guide. - Mark Kishlansky, Times Literary Supplement;It is the fullest general account of this period we have ever had, and it will inevitably become a standard work of reference. - Mark Kishlansky, Times Literary Supplement;Anyone interested in the English Cvil War will wish to read Britian in Revolution. - John Adamson, Sunday Telegraph;Making sense of the origins and course of that conflict has been, notoriously, one of the toughest assignments, an English historian can essay. Here we have the finest synthesis yet produced. - John Adamson, Sunday Telegraph Books of the Year;Austin Woolrych has now written probably the only book on the English Civil War that you are ever likely to need. - Simon Heffer, Literary Review;Drawing on half a century of research and reflection, it deploys a depth and range of knowledge and an authority of judgement, that no other historian of the period could hope to match. In graceful, self-effacing, perfectly weighted prose Woolrych guides us irresistibly through the tangled events of the 1640s and 1650s and stamps his own vision on them. - Blair Worden, The Sunday Telegraph;For as long as is imaginable his book will be the vade-mecum of everyone, from the scholar to the newcomer, who wants to learn about the Civil wars. - Blair Worden, The Sunday Telegraph;Austin Woolrych has given his book a title suitable for a textbook, but this blockbuster of a study is much more than a survey of the period. It represents a summation of half a century's reflection on a complex period of British history, and lives up to the claim implied in the title that Britain and not England is under scrutiny ... In looking for comparators for Britain in Revolution, one must dismiss all the textbook rivals ... This book is a sure guide to mid-seventeenth-century Britain, and is unlikely to be rivaled for many years to come. - H-Net Book Review;I can think of no other history book of recent times that has controlled so large and so demanding a subject so skilfully and satisfyingly. It is a wonderful achievement. - Blair Worden, The Sunday Telegraph;Those to whom the story is unfamiliar will be impressed by the freshness with which it is told. The scholarship is immense and faultless without being heavy or intrusive. By the end, the reader is left in no doubt that every source has been tapped that could have been. - Simon Heffer Literary Review;The fitting culmination of a lifetime's study of the English Civil War, and the best one-volume study we are likely to have for a long time. - Andrew Roberts, Evening Standard