The English Civil War day by day

"England in the mid-seventeenth century was a country in turmoil. What better way to plot a course through the chaos and confusion, the divided loyalties and the bloody battles, than this unique day-by-day account?" "For the first time, this book gathers together all our knowledge of what occurred during the English Civil War in such a way as to allow the reader to witness events as they happened. Effectively a diary of the war, it recounts each day's developments, while offering in addition full surveys of major battles and annual summaries of events. The effect of war on ordinary people up and down the country is also brought home to the reader, such as the time on 4 December 1642 when all men in Oxford not in the army are ordered to bring their horses to be viewed by the king's commanders in St Giles's Field, where 200 are requisitioned; or on New Year's Day 1644 when the besieged soldiers in Arundel Castle are so low on fodder for their horses that they tear down ivy from the castle walls, while the men's rations are cut to 'two sodden spoonfuls' of wheat a day."--BOOK JACKET.