Nothing civil about it

When England sank into war and King Charles's head was lopped off, the country was changed forever.

- SUE COPSEY

London is simmering with unrest. Protests, some turning violent, erupt in the streets around Whitehall and Westminster. They're mostly about religion and taxes, while within Parliament the power struggles between reformers and conservatives are coming to a head. King Charles is watching in the wings - insert your preferred cliché about history repeating here.

“In the beginning there were no kings,” writes historian Jonathan Healey in The Blood in Winter, his new account of the lead-up to the English Civil War. “Where had they come from? Why had rule been left to certain families who looked and smelled no different to anyone else?” Two hotly debated theories existed during the 17th century. One was that kings were created by God - divine sanction was given to dynasties who were accountable only to the almighty. King Charles I very much supported this view. The other was that monarchs drew their power from their subjects, and that people had placed one family above them all. But there was always the chance people might withdraw that support.

Healey, a specialist in the 16th and 17th centuries, delves deep into the politics and personalities that propelled England towards the civil war that broke out in 1642 and raged on and off for nine years. By its conclusion Charles I had been beheaded and the monarchy replaced with a republic. Up to 250,000 people died, many through starvation and disease.