The Battle for Chalk and Cheese.

An eminent military historian, Brigadier Peter Young, once told an audience that 'not much happened in Wiltshire during the English Civil War," an odd statement to make when you consider the destruction of an entire Parliamentary army on the hills above Devizes, seven sieges, four towns stormed and countless skirmishes. Tony MacLachlan sets out to put the record straight by researching the role of the county during the war, forgotten vaults and archives were exhumed, public records and libraries became his home and the physical scares of grapeshot and musket ball on the old buildings of Wiltshire were brought to light. Underneath the tarmac and concrete the ghosts of this revolution still have something to say to us.

In August 1642, Charles I raised his standard at Nottingham declaring the start of the war and very soon Wiltshire would feel the force of that action. By the first frosts of winter, Marlborough had fallen to the Royalists, and actions at Devizes and Malmesbury saw the towns change hands many times in quick succession. MacLachlan demonstrates that although these were not the large and eye catching events that we remember history for, they were very significant to the movement of both sides armies and contributed hugely to the shape of the war. Many towns, after changing hands, were fined by the victors for allowing themselves to have been occupied by enemy troops in the first place, this was seen as collaboration. The upshot of this is that the towns were bankrupted by the constant change of occupying forces as both sides were using this method to raise funds.

Even though the warfare is covered in great detail, using letters and diary descriptions of the time to help set the scene, where MacLachlan triumphs is in showing who it affected the normal person. Although wars tear away menfolk from the home and civil wars in particular pull apart family values as father fought son and friend fought friend, there was still a certain normality to be held on too. Armies of these times were not permanent fixtures, men moved from civilian to recruit and back to civilian many times, often changing sides as need arose. Seasons still passed, farms still functioned, businesses still operated and for many, even in these turbulent times, life went on as normal. It is this angle that sets the book above others on the subject, the war did not affect every one, and to many it was a time of opportunity. It was said that every county had its own civil war, and this is as true of Wiltshire as of any other county in England. Modern wars are often fought between people from all over the world who are not necessarily from the region that is being contested. The people in this war are neighbours, local landowners and their workers, people who in peace time would have sat in the same church pews, that is the nature of civil war.