<p><strong>'This is a book we have all been waiting for - a history of the political and religious conflicts of the seventeenth century that is rooted in reality; and it will be a long, long time before this brilliantly lucid and forcefully argued book is bettered.'</strong> - <em>Spectator</em><br /><br /><strong>'Lucid and economical ... his immense range of reading sits lightly upon him, revealed only in the frequent, telling quotation on every aspect of seventeenth century life ... ingenious and provocative.'</strong> - <em>Times Literary Supplement</em></p>

<p><strong>'This is a book we have all been waiting for ... it will be a long, long time before this brilliantly lucid and forcefully argued book is bettered.'</strong> - <em>The Spectator</em></p>