This work investigates the collapse of the Caroline political order and the descent of England into civil war between 1637 and 1641. C.V. Wedgwood, a distinguished historian of the seventeenth century, utilizes extensive primary source documentation, including parliamentary records and private correspondence, to reconstruct the breakdown of the King's authority. The book argues that the conflict was not merely inevitable but the result of specific, avoidable failures in governance and the inability of Charles I to reconcile his vision of monarchy with the shifting political realities of his realm.

This text is widely regarded as a classic of narrative history, noted for its meticulous research and balanced treatment of a volatile period. The work provides a dense, scholarly examination of the political mechanics that transformed a stable kingdom into a fractured state.