Books
Phase
First English Civil War
1642–1646 CE
The First English Civil War opened after Charles I raised his standard at Nottingham in August 1642. The indecisive Battle of Edgehill was followed by campaigning for towns, roads, ports and fortified houses across England and Wales. Royalist gains in 1643 were checked by Parliament’s alliance with the Scottish Covenanters, the victory at Marston Moor and the creation of the New Model Army.
Naseby in June 1645 destroyed the king’s principal field army and exposed the weakness of the Royalist cause. Parliamentarian forces then reduced the remaining western and midland strongholds, and Oxford surrendered in June 1646. The phase transformed improvised regional forces into disciplined national armies while making siege, requisitioning and divided local loyalties central features of the war.
This phase provides the main setting for Michael Arnold’s Stryker series, Giles Kristian’s Bleeding Land trilogy and other Civil War fiction about early enthusiasm giving way to exhaustion. It supports books centred on raw recruits, cavalry officers, garrisons, divided families, estate defence and the political rise of the New Model Army.
Related people for First English Civil War
Anne Fairfax1617/18–1665 Bridget Cromwell1624–1662 Charles Fleetwood1618–1692 Charles II of England1630–1685 Charles I of England1600–1649 Elizabeth I1533–1603 Henrietta Anne Stuart1644–1670 Henrietta Maria of France1609–1669 Henry Ireton1611–1651 John Tradescant the Younger1608–1662 Oliver Cromwell1599–1658 Prince Rupert of the Rhine1619–1682 Robert Harley1579–1656 Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron1612–1671
Non-Fiction
2 Best Non-Fiction Books About the First English Civil War, 1642–1646
Histories, biographies and reference works are listed separately from the historical novels above.
