The Furie of the Ordnance: Artillery in the English Civil Wars
Author(s): Stephen Bull (Author)
Publisher: Boydell Press
Publication Date: 21 Sept. 2008
Edition: Illustrated
Language: English
Print length: 272 pages
ISBN-10: 1843834030
ISBN-13: 9781843834038
Book Description
Shows how new developments in guns and artillery played a decisive role in the English Civil War.NEW LOW PRICE The English Civil War has frequently been depicted as a struggle between Cavaliers and Roundheads in which technology played little part. The first-hand sources now tell us that this romantic picture is deeply flawed – revealing a reality of gunpowder, artillery, and a grinding struggle of siege and starvation. As with naval warfare, developments in gun technology drastically changed land warfare in the years leading up to 1642. The Civil War was itself shaped largely by the availability of munitions. A failure to procure them in 1643 and 1644 – combined with abortive attempts on London – ultimately proved the downfall of the Royalists. Moreover afinal move away from fortified local garrisons reshaped both the nature of warfare in England, and the country itself. STEPHEN BULL is Curator of Military History and Archaeology, Lancashire Museums.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Required reading for early modern industrial and military historians. ― SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY NEWS
An excellent contribution to the study of the English Civil War, and early modern warfare in general, and will almost certainly become a standard reference for historians of both. ―
JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR ARMY HISTORICAL RESEARCH
The book brings together the technical, the military, the industrial and the strategic, to provide a rounded account of a fascinating subject. It also acts as a powerful statement of the importance of military history in making sense of the bigger picture. ―
CROMWELLIANA
Scholars of British military history and weapon development will appreciate the detailed maps, chronology and extensive appendices. ―
SCITECH BOOKS
An important book, which questions many assumptions and should make its author very proud. ―
JOURNAL OF MILITARY HISTORY
An excellently researched and well-written book with clearly explained argument and supporting evidence. — Philip A. Magrath, (Curator of Artillery, Royal Armouries) ―
CASEMATE
Review
An important book, which questions many assumptions and should make its author very proud.
About the Author
Dr Stephen Bull is a museum curator and university external examiner who straddles the divide between the ‘serious’ and what most of the world actually wants to read. Interested in history from an early age he studied at the University of Wales, and has previously worked at the BBC and National Army Museum in London. Now Curator of Military History and Archaeology for Lancashire County Museums, he has curated a number of exhibitions as well as completing an MBA, and been elected to the Institute for Archaeologists. His work is published on both sides of the Atlantic and translated into a variety of languages. Recently he was listed for the Portico Prize for Literature.
Stephen has made many TV and radio appearances, and at time of writing is working with Definition Media on a new UK TV series. In 2011 he collaborated with Impossible Pictures on ‘Last War Heroes’, writing the book to accompany this well received Channel 4 production which has been broadcast in the UK, US, and Canada. Having been a lecturer or examiner with several North West universities he is now a consultant to the University of Oxford, where he is assisting in the creation of a European database to document the individual experience of the First World War through archives, photographs, and objects. The photograph shows Stephen (right) with Lorenz Andraes at the German National Library, ‘DNB’, Frankfurt.
Dr Stephen Bull is currently Curator of Military History and Archaeology for Lancashire Museums. He has previously worked at the National Army Museum, and for the BBC in London. He is the author of more than twenty military and historical titles published in Europe and the US, and he has appeared in the TV series Battlefield Detectives. Among his many publications are An Historical Guide to Arms and Armour, Volunteer! The Lancashire Rifle Volunteers 1859-1885, Brassey’s History of Uniforms: World War One British Army, World War I Trench Warfare, Encyclopedia of Military Technology and Innovation, World War II Infantry Tactics, World War II Jungle Warfare Tactics and Commando Tactics: The Second World War.
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