Customer Reviews
It started with Montrose.... - By: Emerald Fox, 24 Sep 2008 
I became interestedin the Civil War whilst planning across a trip to Scotland 3 years ago & coming across the book "Montrose - Cavalierin Mourning" - since then I have read other books about Montrose (James Graham) & these lead south to the Warin England. Reading Purkiss's book at the moment, 90% through... I would recommend it, one of those 'hard to put down' books & always eager to pick it up again.
As far as facts go, you have to use your own judgement. I intend to make a calendar on paper from 1640 to 1650 & begin to jot down when what event occurred & build up for myself a picture - & then perhaps write my own essay on The Civil War. I will certainly run through Purkiss's book again to help me fillin this calendar.
I started this book by reading the chapters about the battles, then about Charles I & then Cromwell, then starting from the beginning (and jumping the chapters I'd already read).
The English Civil War seems similar to the Chinese 'Cultural Revolution', a kind of mass madness - humans killing humans just for the fun of it - is there a worse or crueller animal?! Perhaps nature's way of saying the population is too large & pruning the numbers cleans up the gene pool, survival of the fittest?! Anyway, reading the book makes one appreciate livingin "today's world" (in Britain at least, they're still at itin places like Nigeria & Somalia) & that for food all yer need to do is to pop down to Sainsburys...!
Buy the book - if you don't like it, someone else will be happy to get it for Christmas ;)
A very readable narrative of interesting times - By: Heimola Mikko, 24 Sep 2008 
This is a book aptly summarised by it's title. Buildup to the war is
adequately covered, as it should, but it ends with Charles' head being
chopped off his body. Those interestedin the interregnum or restoration
need look elsewhere.
Even though the book aims to give voice to the ordinary people usually
forgotten, this is hardly possible as the sources surviving are already
badly biased. Every individual who could or would leave a written legacy
was a member of the middle-to-upper classes, as the lengthy quotations show. The
author repeatedly states this as an inevitable shortcoming, & tries to
overcome it by including e.g. recorded statements overheardin pubs.
The methods employed by Purkiss are mostly those of traditional history,
with little explicit theorizing, although she sometimes draws parallels to
more modern cases. Although the book is thematically structured, she
manages to build a very coherent narrative. As far as popular history
goes, this is top class.
Eminently readable, entertaining and informative. - By: Carl Waring, 15 Mar 2008 I'm not really a fan of history books. A 'C'in GCSE 15 years ago was good enough for me & I haven't exactly been at the front of the queuein the bookshops to pick up the latest historical offerings. To be honest, I only picked this book upin my local library on a wet Tuesday lunchtime because the local shop had sold out of newspapers; I never expected to get so caught upin it.
The way Purkiss writes is superb: it's like having a super-informed friend explain something to youin a language that is somewhere between typical history book prose & an almost knowing informality (speaking of a contemporary play she writes "It was about love. It was about faith. It was about four hours longer than the audience was used to.")
Don't be fooled into thinking this is history-lite, though. At over 500 pages it is not for the uncommitted reader, but the compelling stories of ordinary folk coupled with the way they are told & the way they ebb & flow with the tide of the Civil War makes it a fascinating & gripping read. The library can have it's copy back: I'm off to buy the hardback.
Marketing Triumph - By: Stephen Bull, 24 Sep 2007 
Having struggled with the 'people's history' for several months - & pushed it around my desk whilst other books get devouredin a few days - I have reached to about page 400. At some point I will read the remaining third of the book: but see no great urgency. Clearly therefore I am not astounded - though I have been charmed by some of the vignettes, & entertained by some of the more arcane details. The illnesses of Charles I, & some of the social history, do make this a worthwhile volume.
Neverthless on the down side even a fairly casual & incomplete reading shows quite a number of errors, or points of confusion. It is worth examining a few of these. On page 3 we read that '800,000 people' died during the course of the conflict: most estimates suggest that disease & fighting between them claimed rather less than 200,000. On page 4 we see that 'universal male sufferage' & 'promotion on merit' were 'invented' during the war as well as the 'need for home & food' (!). On page 45 we are told that 'most' people who experienced the English Civil War were Londoners. On page 48 the Battle of Worcester is foughtin 1650 - which is strange as celebrated military historian Richard Holmes has written a book entitled 'Worcester 1651'. On page 56 we are told that 40% of Royal expenditure was on the 'household' - whilst many others have suggested that war & the navy were the really expensive itemsin Stuart expenditure. How many similar errors occur laterin the book is anybody's guess.
In short there are many more reliable volumes on the market - as for example those by Austen Woolrych or Trevor Royle - but curiously it is the 'people's history' which occupies all the best slots on the book chain shelves. This is an object lessonin the power of marketing. . .
Three stars is a generous assessment based on one for the social history interest; one for the fact that the book is inexpensive; & one for 'benefit of doubt'- since I have yet to finish. Read carefully for entertainment & a 'feel' of period - not for factual content.
Ok , but not brilliant - By: M. Notman, 21 Aug 2007 
Given this is an academic review- it reads like my lecture notes- no inspiration, no thrill of discovery- just a PLAIN OLD BORING SUBJECT! YET-its as good as you will get on this subjectin say Waterstones. - for a brief summary you cant do better. Dont expect fireworks!!!
