Jonathan Healey for The Blood in Winter

A thrilling political history about the months that brought the nation to the cusp of civil war, from the acclaimed author of The Blazing World.

Jonathan Healey is Associate Professor in Social History at the University of Oxford, focusing on the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and was formerly picked as one of the winners of BBC Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers Competition.

Why did the English Civil War break out?

Jonathan joins us for his new book, The Blood in Winter, telling the story of a people's great political awakening, and of a nation that splintered into bloodshed at a terrifying speed.

He recreates the claustrophobic atmosphere of the day, with rowdy protestors in the streets and London blanketed in coal smoke. It is a story of remarkable but flawed characters, all faced with unpalatable choices, and a frightening picture of a society in profound distress.

After years of tension between a king and his people, in 1641 England reaches a semblance of peace. Armies have disbanded, legislation has passed to ensure Parliament will continue to sit, and the people are tentatively optimistic. Radical politicians congratulate themselves on a stunning political victory. Royal servants are coming to accept an altered future.

Then comes winter. With it, chaos, protests, political deadlock, and eventually a remarkable attempt by King Charles I to destroy his opponents. On 4 January 1642 Charles marches on the small riverside city of Westminster at the head of an army, seeking to arrest five Members of Parliament. In doing so, he sets in motion a series of events that will lead to bloodshed and war, changing a nation forever.

'Healey has done it again. The Blood in Winter is history as it should be told, where new light is cast upon one of the most dramatic years in British history. Shaped by meticulous research and a narrative worthy of any political thriller, the result is masterful' ALICE LOXTON