Going to the Wars: The Experience of the British Civil Wars 1638-1651

In the 1640s, thousands of young men in the British Isles set off to fight in the civil wars, full of enthusiasm and commitment to the cause. They were soon to be disillusioned. Accustomed to a relatively peaceful and secure way of life, the realities of battle - the mental strain, physical exhaustion, loneliness and violence - were devestating. In "Going to the Wars", Charles Carlton studies the British civil wars from the perspective of those who fought them, to argue that the event described by G.M. Trevelyan as the most important happening in our history, was also the most destructive.