Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the younger Blackwell in the context of the wealth and Puritanism of his parents. From this the 18-year-old Blackwell joined the parliamentary war effort with his father in 1642. The book outlines the younger Blackwell’s significant active involvement in the first civil war of 1642 to 1646. It argues that the younger Blackwell came in to his own through his central role in the administration of the Interregnum states as a treasurer to the New Model, as the army became a state within the state. The book also outlines the impact on Lambert Blackwell of the bursting of the South Sea Bubble, arguably part of the first global economic crash. The Blackwells had links across the worlds of religion, politics, merchants, diplomacy and war during periods of constitutional crisis and commercial expansion.