I'm looking for a good ECW military history book

[joe5mc]

I'm trying to find a good military history overview of the English Civil Wars. Something scholarly, but not too dense. There seem to be lots of social histories, but not too many about the actual history of the battles.  Anyone have any suggestions?

[answer_is_42]

You want The English Civil War (1974) by Peter Young and Richard Holmes. A classic, and still probably the best military history of the War(s).

[joe5mc]

Thanks, A42, that does look like what I want.

Joe

[Lowtardog]

This is a gooead and a must, a shed load of pictoral references too

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-English-Civil-War-1642-1651/dp/1860198600

[Galloping Major]

You might also wish to consider The English Civil War by Maurice Ashley.
A top rated introduction to the period. 




www.gallopingmajorwargames.com

[Hobbit]

"All the King's Armies" by Stuart Reid is a good "light" introduction:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/All-Kings-Armies-Stuart-Reid/dp/1862273804

I always highly recommend "Cromwell's Army" by CH Firth. Whilst it is about 100 years old it is still one of the best overviews of the armies and uses extensive quotes from the ECW period to substantiate its points. Whilst it is quite a hefty tome it reads very well (and covers both sides, not just parliament) :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cromwells-Army-History-Commonwealth-Protectorate/dp/1421255332/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1378285896&sr=1-2&keywords=cromwell%27s+army

[grant]

I will second "All the Kings Armies" - a solid book.

[joroas]

and me, and the scholarship is more modern than the other two....

[Atheling]

This is a gooead and a must, a shed load of pictoral references too

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-English-Civil-War-1642-1651/dp/1860198600

I would certainly second that as a choice... good for uniforms of certain regiments too- great colour plates  .

Darrell.

[Hobbit]

Haythornthwaite's text is generally sound other than the unsubstantiated assertion that buff coats were a common element of an ECW soldier's clothing (the generally accepted position now is that they were extremely rare amongst ordinary foot soldiers though would have been available to some of the LTB and soldiers of horse). The plates are nicely executed but don't reflect the current research on ECW clothing and equipment so need to be used with some caution.

The two Osprey Elites on the ECW are quite good in this respect though the text suffers from the usual Osprey lack of referencing. Brasseys did a book on the ECW that is quite good and more up to date than any of the preceeding but I would exercise great caution over relying on photos of re-enactors (and I say that with 20 years ECW re-enactment experience under my belt).