The English civil wars loom large in 17th-century history and literature. This period, which culminated in the execution of a king, the dismantling of the established church and the assumption of rule by a lord protector, was one of profound change. This work helps to provide an understanding of the English civil wars' manifold and sometimes indirect presence in the literature of the period. The 15 essays in this collection discuss not only the representation of the civil wars but also the ways in which the civil wars were anticipated, re-figured in the century's literary imagination. Although all of the essays are historically grounded and critically based, they vary widely in their historical perspectives and critical techniques.