Written by Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, a principal advisor to King Charles I, this is the definitive, vivid, and frank insider’s account of the English Civil War. Chronicling the era from the growing factions and bloody battles to the rise of Cromwell, the execution of the King, and the eventual Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, the work stands as a literary and historical masterpiece. Its brilliant character portraits and astute analysis offer an unparalleled, though partisan, perspective on one of Britain’s greatest political convulsions.