Cavaliers and Roundheads

Learn about the English Civil War and make Stand Up Scenes

The English Civil War, which broke out in 1642, divided counties, towns, even friends and families as the nation pledged its allegiance either to the King or to Parliament.

"How I detest this war without an enemy," wrote one of the Roundhead generals to his friend, now commander of the opposing Cavalier army.

This book tells the story of the struggle by focusing on key dramatic events. We see, for instance, King Charles come in person to the House of Commons to arrest his enemies, the crucial battles of Lansdown Hill and Marston Moor, the eventual victory of the Roundheads under Oliver Cromwell and the execution of the King in 1649. It was a time of betrayal and intrigue, fighting and bloodshed, but it was also a time which laid the foundations of British parliamentary democracy.