This collection of essays examines the struggles of the people of England with the collapse of civilization as they knew it. As the country fell into civil war and near anarchy, the people sought out in word and action how to preserve what could still be preserved or to create new political, religious and social certainties. The authors discuss individuals or groups who were soldiers, writers or statesmen of the Civil Wars or the Interregnum, people who were at the centre of power or in more humble and localized circumstances. All of the authors take their inspiration from the work of Austin Woolrych, whose own books and articles focus on these very questions. This volume is published in his honour.

‘The festschrift for Austin Woolrych is an exemplar of the genre; an increasingly rare case of one which gives readers a real sense of what the recipient is like and has achieved, and unites a set of good essays which are actually related to her or his own work.’

Source: History Today

‘The volume is equally strong on both the 1640s and 1650s and embraces political history, military history, and the history of ideas … it pulls together an impressive range of work by younger scholars many of whom were completing, or had just completed, their doctoral theses at the time of writing. In quite a few cases, these papers were the forerunners for major monographs that have subsequently appeared, and this gives the volume considerable value as an overview of recent research in the field.’

Source: Historical Journal