Second Hand Radical Parliamentarians

David R. Como’s Radical Parliamentarians and the English Civil War is a substantial and deeply researched study examining the ideological, political and religious upheavals that transformed seventeenth-century England during the Civil War era. Moving beyond conventional narratives of the conflict, Como focuses on the most committed and militant supporters within Parliament’s movement and traces how radical ideas developed, spread and ultimately reshaped the political landscape of the British Isles.

Drawing extensively upon manuscript sources, pamphlets, printed material and contemporary records, the work explores the turbulent intersection of politics, religion and popular mobilisation. It follows the emergence of concepts and arguments that would later influence modern political thought, including religious toleration, freedom of expression, representative politics and challenges to arbitrary authority.

The book examines the fragmentation of English Protestantism and the emergence of competing religious and political movements while documenting the gradual development of anti-monarchical and republican ideas among Parliament’s supporters. Through detailed scholarship and narrative analysis, Como offers readers a fresh interpretation of the English Civil War and its enduring political consequences.

A significant contribution to early modern British history, this volume will appeal to academic readers, students, and anyone with a serious interest in seventeenth-century politics, religion and the development of political thought. Based on extensive archival research, it provides both a detailed account of the conflict itself and a wider examination of the forces that shaped modern political culture.