The National Archives Civil War

Find out more from the original sources:


Why did people go to war in 1642?

What developments divided people so much that they ended up going to war? Start by clicking on our video clips to find out how different people saw the causes of the war. Then look at the historical sources.


Key people & events

Your challenge

Our video clips of civil war people are reconstructions using actors. Your task is to decide how well we have used the historical sources in this gallery to make these clips.

Start the activity