This book discusses the origins, impact and aftermath of the Civil War
in Warwickshire, examining administration, religion and politics in
their social context. The focus is mainly on the landed élite, but the
importance of relationships between members of the élite and their
social inferiors is also stressed. Early chapters discuss the economic
and social character of Warwickshire; a middle section examines the
onset of the Civil War in 1642; and finally there is a discussion of the
economic impact of the war and the administrative, political and
religious changes of the 1640s and 1650s, culminating in an assessment
of the significance of the Restoration. Dr Hughes takes a critical
approach to recent historiography, and challenges the concept of a
'county community'. The book is intended as a contribution to a general
understanding of the Civil War, rather than as a study of one particular
county.