Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Essex, John Walter mainly carries out research in the fields of popular political culture and the politics of the crowd in early modern society. He has been described by Tim Harris as 'the finest social historian of crowd action and popular politics in early modern England'. Walter's publications include Understanding Popular Violence in the English Revolution, which was awarded the 1999 Royal Historical Society Whitfield Prize, and a collection of essays entitled Crowds and Popular Politics in Early Modern England. He has contributed to radio and television documentaries, and articles of his have inspired both an award-winning beer and a recent film (Robinson in Ruins, Patrick Keiller, 2010).
Covenanting Citizens is a welcomed contribution to our understanding of early modern oath-taking and political engagement on the eve of the Civil War. Walter's detailed and balanced research into manuscripts, diaries, and print culture, shows that the Protestation was much more than an act by Parliament; it was a sacred promise, taken in every county, to defend a reformed Protestant nation ... a substantial contribution to seventeenth-century scholarship. * Brett F. Parker, Seventeenth-Century News * Here is a monograph which is absolutely fundamental for all of us still chasing the origins of the English civil war, written in limpid prose through which shines his mastery of the discipline ... This may be the most satisfying account, in a mere 266 pages, of how civil war broke out in England that has yet been written. * Anthony Fletcher, History * I would recommend this book for anyone interested in the history of early modern British politics, print, and religion, especially for those wanting to study the impact of how print was used as a tool to promote the oath. * Eilish Gregory, Reviews in History * absorbing, well-written, astonishing in its range of sources, often surprising ... It is an exceptional achievement. * Dr Richard Luckett, judging panel of the Samuel Pepys Award 2017 * John Walter's tightly argued and richly detailed Covenanting Citizens: The Protestation Oath and Popular Political Culture in the English Revolution is a significant contribution to English Revolution scholarship, and in particular to the scholarship on the outbreak of the Civil War...It is a landmark study. * Gary Rivett, Journal of British Studies *