In his preface Haythornthwaite points out that a purely military history of the English Civil War would result in a distorted view since the political, religious and social influences were so significant. (He suggests that they never were or have been so great again.) The book flavours military analysis with a general history of the time - adding sufficient background to identify and expound on the influences on military thinking.
There are ten highly informative chapters. The first is a general introduction to the war and its causes, the next two are the obligatory 'armies and organisation' chapters which give necessary information as to the creation, presentation and equipping of the opposing armies. These are illuminated by a series of colour plates by Jeffrey Burn. The pictures are large, clear and will help even the feeblest painter to prepare his own troops for battle. There are 32 full colour plates covering the range of costume for the three Civil Wars. In addition there are reproductions of engravings from the time, illustrations from contemporary military instruction manuals, photographs of weaponry and armour, maps and plans of towns and battles, and at the end a set of colours and standards (in colour).
The next six chapters detail different stages of the First (1642-45), Second (1648) and Third Civil War (1649-51) as well as the two years of respite between the first and second war. These chapters give a fairly detailed run through of the war, with descriptions of strategy and deployment, how the result was viewed by the opposing sides and what their options were. As stated earlier, the illustrations complement the text and provide further insight rather than distracting the reader from the topic. What better inspiration could you have to rush out an buy an army and a set of rules than Joshua Sprigge's engraving of The Armies of Horse and Foot .. at the Battle at Nasby displayed as a two-page spread.
The last two chapters give details on uniforms and flags. Haythornthwaite immediately dismisses the misconception that uniforms did not exist until the creation of the New Model Army and that they were the first to ware the traditional British red coat. He points out that long before then companies (and regiments) wore cloths of uniform manner - the colours determined by the commander (or proprietor) but with the variations in style of cut and quality of material. So the information provided covers the full period, with details on colour of coats, caps and stockings etc.
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