The English Civil Wars
1640-1660
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The English Civil Wars
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Narrated by:
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Leighton Pugh
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By:
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Blair Worden
About this listen
A brilliant appraisal of the Civil War and its long-term consequences by an acclaimed historian.
The political upheaval of the mid-17th century has no parallel in English history. Other events have changed the occupancy and the powers of the throne, but the conflict of 1640-60 was more dramatic: The monarchy and the House of Lords were abolished, to be replaced by a republic and military rule.
In this wonderfully listenable account, Blair Worden explores the events of this period and their origins—the war between King and Parliament, the execution of Charles I, Cromwell's rule, and the Restoration—while aiming to reveal something more elusive: the motivations of contemporaries on both sides and the concerns of later generations.
©2009 Blair Worden (P)2022 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
January, 1649. After seven years of fighting in the bloodiest war in Britain’s history, Parliament faced a problem: what to do with a defeated king who refused to surrender? Parliamentarians resolved to do the unthinkable, to disregard the Divine Right of Kings and hold Charles I to account for the suffering and slaughter endured by his people. On a winter’s day outside Whitehall, the king of England was executed. When the king’s son, Charles II, was restored to the throne, he set about enacting a deadly wave of retribution against all those responsible for his father’s death.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Who Knew?
- By RJW on 08-26-23
By: Charles Spencer
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English Civil War: A History from Beginning to End
- By: Hourly History
- Narrated by: William Irvine
- Length: 1 hr and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 25
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 19
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 19
In 1642, King Charles I and the elected Parliament of England went to war over the future of the Stuart kingdom. Over the next nine years, three civil wars would be fought, devastating the populations of England, Scotland, and Ireland. With the authority of the monarchy, the freedom of Parliament, and the power of religion at stake, the English Civil Wars decided the future of Great Britain and influenced the future of politics around the world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A quick history of the English Civil War
- By Sean Whitehorn on 10-04-19
By: Hourly History
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Oliver Cromwell
- Commander in Chief
- By: Ronald Hutton
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 1
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1
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Story5 out of 5 stars 1
In 1647, the Parliamentarians were divided. They had won the first civil war and the king was in custody, but disagreements over the way forward had led to a stalemate. As the leader of one party, Oliver Cromwell found himself again at the center of events. In the second volume of his pioneering biography, Ronald Hutton traces Cromwell's career from 1647 through to his seizure of supreme power.
By: Ronald Hutton
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Devil-Land
- England Under Siege, 1588-1688
- By: Clare Jackson
- Narrated by: Emma Gregory
- Length: 24 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 27
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 23
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 23
As an unmarried heretic with no heir, Elizabeth I was regarded with horror by Catholic Europe, while her Stuart successors, James I and Charles I, were seen as impecunious and incompetent. The traumatic civil wars, regicide and a republican Commonwealth were followed by the floundering foreign-leaning rule of Charles II and his brother, James II, before William of Orange invaded England with a Dutch army and a new order was imposed.
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2 out of 5 stars
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The Exciting Made “Meh”
- By K&S&T on 10-01-22
By: Clare Jackson
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Oliver Cromwell
- The Notorious Life and Legacy of the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Saethon Williams
- Length: 1 hr and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 40
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 39
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Story4 out of 5 stars 39
For over 1,000 years England has had a monarchy, and though the line of succession did not always pass smoothly, it has almost always been continuous. England has more often been faced with the claims of competing kings and queens than with a period of no monarch at all.
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1 out of 5 stars
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absurdly juvenile biography
- By Mr. on 04-06-19
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The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England
- A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century
- By: Ian Mortimer
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,308
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,984
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,974
Imagine you could travel back to the 14th century. What would you see? What would you smell? More to the point, where are you going to stay? And what are you going to eat? Ian Mortimer shows us that the past is not just something to be studied; it is also something to be lived. He sets out to explain what life was like in the most immediate way, through taking you to the Middle Ages. The result is the most astonishing social history book you are ever likely to read: evolutionary in its concept, informative and entertaining in its detail.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Detailed, Interesting and Entertaining
- By Marc-Andr? on 05-13-10
By: Ian Mortimer
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The Blazing World
- A New History of Revolutionary England, 1603-1689
- By: Jonathan Healey
- Narrated by: Oliver Hembrough
- Length: 19 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 114
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 95
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 96
The seventeenth century was a revolutionary age for the English. It started as they suddenly found themselves ruled by a Scotsman, and it ended in the shadow of an invasion by the Dutch. Under James I, England suffered terrorism and witch panics. Under his son Charles, state and society collapsed into civil war, to be followed by an army coup and regicide. For a short time—for the only time in history—England was a republic. There were bitter struggles over faith and Parliament asserted itself like never before. There were no boundaries to politics.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Been looking for this book for a long time
- By cmurrell on 07-30-23
By: Jonathan Healey
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The Wars of the Roses
- The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors
- By: Dan Jones
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,626
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,199
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,182
The 15th century saw the longest and bloodiest series of civil wars in British history. The crown of England changed hands five times as two branches of the Plantagenet dynasty fought to the death for the right to rule. Now, celebrated historian Dan Jones describes how the longest reigning British royal family tore itself apart until it was finally replaced by the Tudors. Some of the greatest heroes and villains in history were thrown together in these turbulent times.
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5 out of 5 stars
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No Need for a Score Card
- By Troy on 01-16-15
By: Dan Jones
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The Emperor Charlemagne
- By: E.R. Chamberlin
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
On Christmas Day, 800, Charlemagne was crowned "Emperor of the Romans" by Pope Leo III. Under his guidance the Carolingian Renaissance flourished, with his capital of Aachen becoming a center of learning and artistic genius. The legacy of Charlemagne on European history and culture is monumental. Yet, within 30 years of his death, his empire had fragmented. Who was this legendary ruler? How had he managed to rule these vast domains? And why has his legacy continued to influence Europeans to this day?
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4 out of 5 stars
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Its well done
- By Steve on 02-03-23
By: E.R. Chamberlin
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The Birth of Classical Europe
- A History from Troy to Augustine
- By: Simon Price, Peter Thonemann
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 159
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 133
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 132
To an extraordinary extent we continue to live in the shadow of the classical world. At every level, from languages to calendars to political systems, we are the descendants of a “classical Europe,” using frames of reference created by ancient Mediterranean cultures. As this consistently fresh and surprising new audio book makes clear, however, this was no less true for the inhabitants of those classical civilizations themselves, whose myths, history, and buildings were an elaborate engagement with an already old and revered past - one filled with great leaders and writers....
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent overview of the Classical World
- By David I. Williams on 01-12-14
By: Simon Price, and others
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Heart of Europe
- A History of the Holy Roman Empire
- By: Peter H. Wilson
- Narrated by: Napoleon Ryan
- Length: 34 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 349
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 308
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Story4 out of 5 stars 305
The Holy Roman Empire lasted 1,000 years, far longer than ancient Rome. Yet this formidable dominion never inspired the awe of its predecessor. Voltaire quipped that it was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire. Yet as Peter H. Wilson shows, the Holy Roman Empire tells a millennial story of Europe better than the histories of individual nation-states.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Mixed feelings on this one.
- By Stuart Seymour on 09-19-17
By: Peter H. Wilson
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Republic
- Britain's Revolutionary Decade, 1649–1660
- By: Alice Hunt
- Narrated by: Sophie Roberts
- Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3
England's unique republican experiment - imposed on Scotland and Ireland, too - may have been shortlived, but it has had a lasting impact on British monarchy, politics, religion and culture, and on the story the British continue to tell about themselves. It is a period that, for a long time, history chose to forget, or recalled as a failure. Here, in thrilling detail, Alice Hunt brings the republic and its extraordinary cast of characters, from politicians to poets and prophets, back to life.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great intelligent revealing of history
- By Ted Baehr on 04-24-25
By: Alice Hunt
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The First Kingdom
- By: Max Adams
- Narrated by: Kris Dyer
- Length: 16 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 30
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 28
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 28
Somewhere in the dim void between the departure from Britain of the Roman legions at the start of the fifth century and the days of the venerable Bede, the kingdoms of Early Medieval Britain were formed. But by whom? And out of what? Max Adams scrutinises the narrative handed down to us by later historians and chronicles, stripping away the most lurid nonsense about Arthur and synthesising the research of the last 40 years to tease out strands of reality from myth.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Very interesting, but not in my truck
- By Liz on 03-03-21
By: Max Adams
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The English Civil War
- An Alternative History of Britain
- By: Timothy Venning
- Narrated by: Liam Gerrard
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall0 out of 5 stars 0
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Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
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Story0 out of 5 stars 0
With hindsight, the victory of Parliamentarian forces over the Royalists in the English Civil War may seem inevitable, but this outcome was not a foregone conclusion. Timothy Venning explores many of the turning points and discusses how they might so easily have played out differently.
By: Timothy Venning
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To Rule the Waves
- How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World
- By: Arthur Herman
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 29 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,101
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 996
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 991
To Rule the Waves tells the extraordinary story of how the British Royal Navy allowed one nation to rise to a level of power unprecedented in history. From the navy's beginnings under Henry VIII to the age of computer warfare and special ops, historian Arthur Herman tells the spellbinding tale of great battles at sea, heroic sailors, violent conflict, and personal tragedy - of the way one mighty institution forged a nation, an empire, and a new world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Superb and easy to listen to.
- By Mrs. on 02-16-17
By: Arthur Herman
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Saxons, Vikings, and Celts
- The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland
- By: Bryan Sykes
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 424
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 363
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Story4 out of 5 stars 364
WASPs finally get their due in this stimulating history by one of the world's leading geneticists. Saxons, Vikings, and Celts is the most illuminating book yet to be written about the genetic history of Britain and Ireland. Through a systematic, ten-year DNA survey of more than 10,000 volunteers, Bryan Sykes has traced the true genetic makeup of British Islanders and their descendants.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Thesaurus taxing mind numbing travelog
- By Twang on 01-07-14
By: Bryan Sykes
Still relevant to 21st century controversies.
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Great primer
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Definitely recommended.
Whistle stop tour of the English civil war
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This book is also good to listen to when sharing a bed, especially if one has anxiety about sharing a bed, or you have a fairly new partner. The content is deep enough to keep the listener engaged while we focus on not snoring, holding in farts, and managing night flashes.
For the Bedtime Listener: Alone or Alone Together
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Beginner’s Overview
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