By looking at personal sources such as diaries, petitions, letters and social/public sources including the press, Bennett clearly sets out the true cultural and social effects that the wars had on the peoples of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland and how common experiences transcended national and regional boundaries.

The Civil War Experienced discusses exactly how far-reaching the changes caused by the civil war actually were for both women and men and carefully assesses individual reactions to it. By placing the military and political developments of the civil wars into a social context, the author is able to portray a very different interpretation of a century of regicide and republic.