Published to accompany a six-part Channel 4 television series, this book outlines the events and themes of the English Civil Wars of the 1640s, offering a guide to the complex religious divisions of the period and the radical political debate that ensued. A series of short essays provides brief biographies of the main protagonists, descriptions of the set-piece battles such as Marston Moor and Naseby, and information on the religious and political background. Above all, it aims to evoke the spirit of that divided era and what it was like to live through 20 years during which brother fought brother and father fought son in one of the bloodiest episodes in British history.