Introduction

Historians, especially the proponents of 'the new British history', have been very keen to see what happened after 1640 in a wider context than merely an English one, accounting for the appearance of labels like 'the War of the Three Kingdoms', and even 'the British Revolution'. The impact on each other of events in England, Ireland and Scotland is important, but this is by no means the only or primary explanation of those events. In the circumstances, 'the English Revolution' does not seem to be an unreasonable term to use. The importance of both conservatism in the events of the 1640s and 1650s and of the 'British context' in understanding those events will not be ignored in what follows. The chapter examines whether there is an 'English Revolution' in the middle of the seventeenth century. It is an open question whether the exciting events that happened after 1640 merit being given the label 'Revolution' or even 'English'.