Women All on Fire: The Women of the English Civil War

By Alison Plowden

Using personal accounts from both Royalist and Parliamentarian supporters to reveal the untold story of the women of the English Civil War, Alison Plowden illustrates how the conflict affected the lives of women and how they coped with unfamiliar responsibilities. Some displayed a courage so far above their sex as to suprise and disconcert their men. The Royalists included Queen Henrietta, who went abroad to raise money for the cause, and Mary Bankes who held Corfe Castle for the king with her daughters, heaving stones and hot embers over the battlements at the attacking Roundheads. On the opposing side, Lady Brillia Harley guarded Brampton Bryan Castle in Herefordshire against the Royalists and Anne Fairfax, wife of Cromwell's northern general, who was taken prisoner by the Duke of Newcastle's troops after Adwalton Moor. This is a fascinating look at the little reported, yet valient actions, of the women caught up in this tumultuous age.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Jul 31, 2011
• ISBN: 9780752467245

Reviews for Women All on Fire

[charlotte1162 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This true to life book containing the experiences of a select number of women during the Seventeenth-Century English Civil War is thoroughly researched and imaginatively retold. As a Historian approaching my dissertation the said subject, it seemed only fitting to add a piece of my project into the challenge, it also meant completing a little research as well. This is most likely why this book took me so long to read, it cannot be taken as just another story, it is a gritty account of the lives of women during the Civil War between King and Parliament.
Upon reading this book, I really enjoyed that pull back into history which you don't always receive with History books, it was an immensely informative and interesting read of a time when chivalry still existed and women began to get a taste of liberty and power alongside men.