English Civil Wars: God's Fury and England's Fire

The single most traumatic event in England between the medieval Black Death and the two world wars was the sequence of civil wars that tore the country apart in the seventeenth century. It is likely that a greater percentage of the population were killed in these wars than in the First World War. This immense trauma inspired the title of a major new history: God’s Fury, England’s Fire, named after a pamphlet written following the king’s surrender. The pamphlet captured the widespread belief in England that the relentless nightmare that had ravaged families, towns, and livelihoods was a punishment from a vengeful God, a result of the sins of the English people. However, as is the case with all civil wars, this belief in ‘God’s fury’ could either support or destroy either side in the conflict.

Michael Braddick’s remarkable book, God’s Fury, England’s Fire, offers readers a vivid and enduring insight into the experience of living through uncontrollable violence during this tumultuous period. It also delves into the beliefs and motivations that drove the different factions. The shocking events of the killing of Charles I and the establishment of a republic, which still astonish in an English context today, were not the only outcomes of the civil wars. Braddick skillfully unravels the complex series of events that led to the most radical solutions to the country’s political collapse. Additionally, he effectively explores the impact of external events in Scotland, Ireland, and mainland Europe on the conflict in England.

Through God’s Fury, England’s Fire, readers can once again grasp the significance of the events that have shaped England so profoundly, events that continue to reverberate centuries after their brutal conclusion.

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