Eminently readable, entertaining and informative. - Rated 
I'm not really a fan of history books. A 'C' in GCSE 15 years ago was good enough for me and I haven't exactly been at the front of the queue in the bookshops to pick up the latest historical offerings. To be honest, I only picked this book up in my local library on a wet Tuesday lunchtime because the local shop had sold out of newspapers; I never expected to get so caught up in it.
The way Purkiss writes is superb: it's like having a super-informed friend explain something to you in a language that is somewhere between typical history book prose and an almost knowing informality (speaking of a contemporary play she writes "It was about love. It was about faith. It was about four hours longer than the audience was used to.")
Don't be fooled into thinking this is history-lite, though. At over 500 pages it is not for the uncommitted reader, but the compelling stories of ordinary folk coupled with the way they are told and the way they ebb and flow with the tide of the Civil War makes it a fascinating and gripping read. The library can have it's copy back: I'm off to buy the hardback.
Marketing Triumph - Rated 
Having struggled with the 'people's history' for several months - and pushed it around my desk whilst other books get devoured in a few days - I have reached to about page 400. At some point I will read the remaining third of the book: but see no great urgency. Clearly therefore I am not astounded - though I have been charmed by some of the vignettes, and entertained by some of the more arcane details. The illnesses of Charles I, and some of the social history, do make this a worthwhile volume.
Neverthless on the down side even a fairly casual and incomplete reading shows quite a number of errors, or points of confusion. It is worth examining a few of these. On page 3 we read that '800,000 people' died during the course of the conflict: most estimates suggest that disease and fighting between them claimed rather less than 200,000. On page 4 we see that 'universal male sufferage' and 'promotion on merit' were 'invented' during the war as well as the 'need for home and food' (!). On page 45 we are told that 'most' people who experienced the English Civil War were Londoners. On page 48 the Battle of Worcester is fought in 1650 - which is strange as celebrated military historian Richard Holmes has written a book entitled 'Worcester 1651'. On page 56 we are told that 40% of Royal expenditure was on the 'household' - whilst many others have suggested that war and the navy were the really expensive items in Stuart expenditure. How many similar errors occur later in the book is anybody's guess.
In short there are many more reliable volumes on the market - as for example those by Austen Woolrych or Trevor Royle - but curiously it is the 'people's history' which occupies all the best slots on the book chain shelves. This is an object lesson in the power of marketing. . .
Three stars is a generous assessment based on one for the social history interest; one for the fact that the book is inexpensive; and one for 'benefit of doubt'- since I have yet to finish. Read carefully for entertainment and a 'feel' of period - not for factual content.
Ok , but not brilliant - Rated 
Given this is an academic review- it reads like my lecture notes- no inspiration, no thrill of discovery- just a PLAIN OLD BORING SUBJECT! YET-its as good as you will get on this subject in say Waterstones. - for a brief summary you cant do better. Dont expect fireworks!!!
A new slant on the Civil War - Rated
I think this is an excellent book and, unlike a lot of recent history, eminently readable. The insights it provides into what is already a much-written-about period are enlightening and often surprising. It is not a history of battles, nor is it my favourite account of the politics of the period (that has to be Christopher Hill's "The World Turned Upside Down"), but as an account of the effects of the period on the British peoples it breaks new ground in popular history. It is probably as well to have a little prior knowledge of the period to extract maximum pleasure from the book, but even the good old Pelican History can provide this ("England In The 17th Century" - Maurice Ashley)
A People's History - Rated
I'm shocked to see this book receive such a poor rating. It's one of the best history books I've ever read. The reader who complains about the coverage given to women is missing the point. This is, as the title says, a people's history - and people includes women and children, not just the men whose exploits are usually chronicled. There are any number of books about the generals and politicians, but Purkiss's mission is to describe what the war was like for those who lived through it, whether or not they were involved in the fighting or political power-struggles. Hence we get chapters on children, food, art, iconoclasm, the banning of Christmas etc - though she's also excellent on the well-known figures like Charles I, Cromwell and Milton. I found it a gripping read, superbly written and often very funny. This is her account of the latest fashionable play at Charles's court: "It was about love. It was about faith. It was about four hours longer than the audience was used to."
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