For all the vast literature on the English Revolution, the Second Civil War has been largely neglected. Robert Ashton, author of the standard history, The English Civil War, now provides a detailed account of the period from the end of the First Civil War in 1646 to late 1648, on the eve of the trial and execution of Charles I. A work of formidable erudition and depth of research, it reveals the origins of the Second Civil War to be as complex, significant and interesting as those of the First.

Unlike previous studies, which concentrate on the growth of radical movements along the road to regicide and republicanism, Ashton's study focuses on the neglected area of conservatism and counter-revolution. Just as historians of the First Civil War have sought to explain how a weakened king was able to rally sufficient resources to go to war in 1642, so this book explains how royalists, decisively defeated in 1646, found the support to take up arms in 1648.

Ashton's analysis is conducted on a regional, county and national basis and also takes in developments in Wales, Scotland and, to a lesser extent, Ireland. He asks not only why so many Scotsmen who had fought alongside the English Roundheads entered the second war on the king's side in 1648, but emphasizes the disastrous split within the Scottish political nation which resulted from this.

And he explores not only why former supporters of parliament deserted their allies and embraced the royalist cause in 1648, but also why others did not. Having explained why, after two years of uneasy peace, England was again convulsed by civil war in 1648, the book closes with a consideration of the main characteristics of insurgency in the Second Civil War and the reasons for, and consequences of, its failure.