There is a vast literature devoted to the period of the Civil Wars, from which it is difficult to select just a few books to provide a balanced overview. Many more works are referred to in the pages on individual battles and campaigns.

MILITARY HISTORY OF THE CIVIL WARS

• Smurthwaite, David. The Complete Guide to the Battlefields of Britain. London: Michael Joseph, 1993, 130-139. A brief overview of warfare and its context in Britain during the mid 17th century, together with very short accounts of the major battles.
• Newark, Tim. War in Britain: The Military History of Britain from the Roman Invasion to World War II. London: HarperCollins, 2000, 86-101. A more accessible summary illustrated with re-enactment photos.
• Kenyon, John, and Jane Ohlmeyer. The Civil Wars : A Military History of England, Scotland and Wales. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. The most comprehensive modern overview of the military history of the Civil Wars with contributions from many of the leading scholars of the period. Also includes papers on sieges and defences, logistics and naval action.
• Gardiner, Samuel Rawson. History of the Great Civil War, 1642-1649. London ; New York: Longmans Green, 1893 (reprinted in 4 volumes 1991). This is still the most comprehensive single work for the sequence of military events through the First and Second Civil Wars.
• Woolrych, Austin. Britain in Revolution, 1625-1660. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. The most definitive modern account of the periodm, both of the military events and their political context.

 BATTLEFIELDS & ASSOCIATED PLACES

• Burne, Alfred Higgins, and Peter Young. The Great Civil War : a military history of the first Civil War, 1642-1646. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1959. Despite the number of books written on the Civil War we still await an authoritative work on the battles of the war to superceded this ageing volume by these two key, but now much criticised military historians.
• Baker, Anthony. A Battlefield Atlas of the English Civil War. Shepperton: Ian Allan, 1986. A basic atlas most valuable for its brief summaries and simple maps of the main campaigns in England, Wales and Scotland.
• Gaunt, Peter. The Cromwellian gazetteer : an illustrated guide to Britain in the Civil War and Commonwealth. Gloucester: Alan Sutton, 1987. The most comprehensive guide to places in Britain with signficant Civil War associations.

 ARMIES, EQUIPMENT AND DEFENCES

• Roberts, Keith, and Angus McBride. Soldiers of the English Civil War, Elite series (Osprey) ; 25. London: Osprey, 1989. and Tincey & McBride, John & Angus. Soldiers of the English Civil War: 2 Cavalry, Elite Series. Oxford: Osprey, 1990. Two of the best brief overviews of character and composition of the armies, from the excellently illustrated and well researched Osprey series.
• Blackmore, David. Arms and Armour of the English Civil Wars. London: Royal Armouries, 1990. A comprehensive and well illustrated short review of military equipment of the period.
• Harrington, Peter. English Civil War Fortifications 1642-51. London: Osprey Publishing, 2003. A well researched and illustrated short review.

 EUROPEAN MILITARY CONTEXT

• Black, Jeremy. European Warfare 1494-1660. Warfare and History. London: Routledge, 2002
• Childs, John. Warfare in the seventeenth century. London: Cassell, 2001.

 EXAMPLES OF CONTEMPORARY MILITARY MANUALS

• Cruso, John. Militarie Instructions for the Cavallrie, 1632
• Elton, Richard. The Compleat Body of the Art Military, 1659.
• Vernon, John. The Young Horseman, 1644.
• Ward, Robert. Animadversions of Warre, 1639.