Why Was Charles I Executed? - by Clive Holmes

About the Book

The execution of Charles I in 1649 was an extraordinary political event. Why the king was defeated and executed has been a central question in English history. This work aims to supply clear answers to key questions about the period, ranging from why the king had to summon the Long Parliament to whether there was, in fact, an English Revolution.

Book Synopsis

The execution of Charles I in 1649, followed by the proclamation of a Commonwealth, was an extraordinary political event. It followed a bitter Civil War between parliament and the king, and their total failure to negotiate a subsequent peace settlement.

Why the king was defeated and executed has been a central question in English history, being traced back to the Reformation and forward to the triumph of parliament in the eighteenth century. The old answers, whether those of the Victorian narrative historian S.R. Gardiner or of Lawrence Stone's diagnosis of a fatal long-term rift in English society, however, no longer satisfy, while the newer ones of local historians and 'revisionists' often leave readers unclear as to why the Civil War happened at all.

In Why Was Charles I Executed? Clive Holmes supplies clear answers to eight key questions about the period, ranging from why the king had to summon the Long Parliament to whether there was in fact an English Revolution.

Review Quotes

'This beautifully constructed book acts as a reminder of how little has truly changed in the orthodox view of the war and Revolution, while so much else has done in our perceptions of history.' ' Dr. Holmes... has a wonderful knack for cuttng through the detail of events to the themes and issues that really matter. The result is a model of clarity, verve and concision, powered by a formidable common sense.' - Ronald Hutton, TLS--Sanford Lakoff "Tls "

'[A] complex story on which Dr Holmes casts a penetrating light.' Nottingham Evening Post, 04/11/2006

About the Author

Clive Holmes is a leading English Civil War Historian and Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.