Book Description

Under the influence of "revisionist" writings the history of the English Civil War has splintered. This is not to say that there was once consensus on how the revolution should be characterized or interpreted, but revisionism has now carved out different aspects of historical experience--such as economic, social, political, religious, and cultural--that once tended to be bound together. This book does not attempt to turn back the clock, nor to recreate what was undoubtedly in part a false coherence. But it does in fact suggest ways in which some of the starker discontinuities should be challenged. The editors maintain that reconnections should be made regarding the causes, course, and impact of the Civil War, and the pieces in this book aim to do so without without losing sight of the complexity of the issues at hand. Moreover, these articles afford some of the most stimulating writing on this topic to appear in the last twenty-five years.