Product Description

This social as well as a military history recreates the scenes of civil war in England, between 1642 and 1649, and is enlivened by character sketches not only of the leading participants (Charles I, Prince Rupert, Oliver Cromwell), but also of the numerous lesser characters, male and female, who took part in the desperate conflict. Families and friends were bitterly divided as men left home to fight for King or Parliament. Castles and towns were besieged and sacked. Houses were plundered, churches desecrated and some 200,000 lives were lost.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #445911 in Books
• Published on: 1994-05-09
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Customer Reviews

A fabulous introduction...
Academia desist! So many Civil War Books are academically crippled with an over indulgence of subject matter/language too obscure to matter to the everyday reader (though I can appreciate their importance). Extremely well written with lots of clear black/white and colour plates. If you want a well researched and interesting book on the civil war, but without the need to break out any glossaries/reference books (because of how clearly he describes events,avoiding intellectual elitism) then this is for you. This will fire your imagination and certainly brand the English Civil War in your mind as the most important and interesting time in British history.
As a man who has read many Civil War books, I can safely say this is one of the most readily accessible without sacrificing detail or content.

Not just a text book
The English Civil War is a subject much written about by historians for generations, and, if you've ever had to study it yourself, it's easy to get bogged down in the distinctions between Whig, Marxist, Revisionist and post-revisionist interpretations.
Into this complex and often dry field of learning Christopher Hibbert breathes welcome life and excitement. His approach to the subject, as in all of his works, is both interesting and informative (sorry if that sounds too much like a cliché), and "Cavaliers and Roundheads" offers as much to the discerning scholar as the general reader. It certainly helped to bring some extra colour to my studies, as well as proving an enjoyable read in postgraduate days.

A Good Introduction But A Bit Hard To Follow
"Cavaliers and Roundheads" is the story of the English Civil War of 1642-49 between King Charles I and Parliament which lead to the beheading of Charles on January 30, 1649 and the installation of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector.

The book is well written and tends to present the story chronologically. The alignment of forces and shifting military advantages are explained. The ultimate arrest and trial of the King, followed by his execution, bring the war to its conclusion. The ascendency of Cromwell was brief and his reputation swiftly tarnished until his rehabilitation in the 19th century. The restoration of King Charles II lead to the veneration of Charles I as a martyr King.

The book is, largely, limited to a factual reporting of the events of the war. The explanation of the causes and results of the war are brief. There is little treatment of any underlying social causes or effects of the dispute between King and Parliament.

My rating of this work is fairly low because of the difficulty I had in following all the Dukes and Lords involved in the story. Perhaps a reader with a greater familiarity with this era of English history would find this work to be more interesting. I would rate it as a fair introduction to this period of history. It would probably better serve a reader a more prepared for an in depth study of the era.