The second volume of S.R. Gardiner's great survey of the English Civil War deals with events between July 1644 (after the Royalist defeat at Marston Moor) and the end of 1645, a year which saw the demise of Royalist hopes of victory. An invaluable reference tool for students of the period, this great scholarly survey is much quoted by later historians and yet it has been out of print for a number of years. Now the four volumes of this highly influential history are available once more. The first volume contains an introduction by Christopher Hill, who sums up Gardiner's importance thus: 'What distinguishes Gardiner's work from that of his predecessors was his objectivity, his prodigious learning, and his meticulous attention to detail. He established the basic narrative of what he called the Puritan Revolution'. And it is around this narrative that the debate on the Civil War has raged ever since.