The Causes of the English Civil War

This book provides students with the essential background to the English Civil War and to the historical debates surrounding its causes. Historians have argued about the causes of the English Civil War for over three centuries and recent revisionism has focused on the question of whether short–term or long–term changes could account for the war. The author discusses the pitfalls of arguments about causation; analyzes the events which preceded the war; provides a detailed examination of the areas of possible long–term conflict; and assesses the different explanations offered in the light of recent scholarship. The Causes of the English Civil War is an ideal introductory text for students of this period, bringing the latest arguments to bear on this popular subject of study.

1. The Problem of Causation. 2. The Crisis of 1637–42. 3. Religious Conflicts. 4. Political Tensions. 5. Economic and Social Change. 6. Causes and Theories. Further Reading. Bibliography and References. Chronology. Glossary. Index.

Norah Carlin is Principal Lecturer in Early Modern History at Middlesex University. She is the author of The First English Revolution (1983) and has contributed to Bradshaw (ed.) et al, Representing Ireland: Literature and the Origins of Conflict, 1534–1660 (1993) and Grell & Scribner (ed.), Tolerance and Intolerance in the European Reformation (1996).