The War of the Realms
The English Civil War
John Adamson(Author)
Weidenfeld & Nicolson (Publisher)
Will be published approx. on 31. December 2035
Book
Hardback
600 pages
978-0-297-84471-6 (ISBN)
Description
Although many books have been written claiming to be 'new' histories of the Civil War in the past hundred years, the basic narrative they have offered has hardly changed. None has returned comprehensively to the sources and to the mass of new evidence that awaited discovery in private collections and foreign archives. John Adamson's ground-breaking book offers the first genuinely new account of England's last - and bloodiest - internal war.
As a sequel to the widely acclaimed THE NOBLE REVOLT, which described the political crisis that brought about the overthrow of Charles I, THE WAR OF THE REALMS picks up the story as it reaches its bloody climax. Adamson's gripping narrative focuses on the struggle between Parliamentarians and Royalists to realize their rival political visions of Britain's future through war, diplomacy and political intrigue. But this is much more than a sequel. Adamson looks beyond the world of Westminster and the court to examine the experience of war, its impact on individual lives and families, and - perhaps most importantly of all - its massive long-term influence on the size and power of the British state, the consequences of which endure today.
The book's originality and freshness of approach is driven by a truly astonishing number of archival discoveries. Personalities and motives are revealed with detail and clarity where earlier historians have had to resort to speculation and guesswork, and the dramatis personae of the English Civil War are wholly redefined. Cromwell, whose role has been wildly exaggerated by historians, recedes to the supporting part which, in reality, he played for much of the war. The real political powerbrokers of the day, the aristocratic grandees who dominated politics on both sides of the conflict, emerge from the shadows here for the first time. Old orthodoxies are overturned. THE WAR OF THE REALMS presents a magnificent new account of Britain's greatest-ever internal political crisis that is both compellingly argued and beautifully told.
As a sequel to the widely acclaimed THE NOBLE REVOLT, which described the political crisis that brought about the overthrow of Charles I, THE WAR OF THE REALMS picks up the story as it reaches its bloody climax. Adamson's gripping narrative focuses on the struggle between Parliamentarians and Royalists to realize their rival political visions of Britain's future through war, diplomacy and political intrigue. But this is much more than a sequel. Adamson looks beyond the world of Westminster and the court to examine the experience of war, its impact on individual lives and families, and - perhaps most importantly of all - its massive long-term influence on the size and power of the British state, the consequences of which endure today.
The book's originality and freshness of approach is driven by a truly astonishing number of archival discoveries. Personalities and motives are revealed with detail and clarity where earlier historians have had to resort to speculation and guesswork, and the dramatis personae of the English Civil War are wholly redefined. Cromwell, whose role has been wildly exaggerated by historians, recedes to the supporting part which, in reality, he played for much of the war. The real political powerbrokers of the day, the aristocratic grandees who dominated politics on both sides of the conflict, emerge from the shadows here for the first time. Old orthodoxies are overturned. THE WAR OF THE REALMS presents a magnificent new account of Britain's greatest-ever internal political crisis that is both compellingly argued and beautifully told.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Orion Publishing Co
Illustrations
5 Maps
Dimensions
Height: 254 mm
Width: 174 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-297-84471-6 (9780297844716)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
John Adamson is a Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge, and has written extensively on sixteenth- and seventeenth-century political and cultural history. He is a winner of the Royal Historical Society's Alexander Prize and the University of Cambridge's Seeley Medal for History. THE NOBLE REVOLT was published to wide acclaim in 2007 and was awarded the Samuel Pepys Prize.