'This day came their Mortar piece which struck the poor Cittizens into an Ague fite of trembling and gazing at the strangeness thereof, not having seen the like before.'.

The inhabitant of the besieged town of Lichfield who recorded the above was not alone in witnessing the destructive impact of the English Civil Wars of the mid-seventeenth century. Towns, villages, churches and country houses up and down the land were affected. Indeed, destruction was so widespread that by the end of the Second Civil War at least 150 towns and 50 villages had suffered some damage, 200 country houses had been ruined, and more than 50,000 people had been made homeless.

This book is the first detailed study of this aspect of the Civil Wars and makes available the results of many years of study and research of original documents and manuscripts in record offices and local history libraries throughout the country. Much of the material has never previously been published. The author conveys vividly, often through their own words, the feelings of those caught up in the traumatic events of the time, while also presenting a clear narrative and explanation of events.

This new and valuable study will be welcomed not only by historians but also by all those with an interest in the effects of this particularly destructive period of English history upon the towns and countryside that surround us.