Today's early modern plan and what transpired

I had been planning to go to the Essex Record Office in Chelmsford to conduct some long-delayed manuscript research but fate intervened or rather confusion and I was not able to go. Later in the week perhaps. But I did manage to get to the University Library after lunch and, after some indecision, opted to read the first ninety pages or so of the late Clive Holmes's 2005 book, Why Was Charles I Executed? It had all the qualities I remember so well from the time I first met him when he was a Research Fellow at Christ's College, Cambridge. There was intellectual confidence in abundance, clear writing and a sharp case explaining why the Long Parliament won the first English Civil War against the forces of King Charles I. Holmes maintained that, apart from its material advantages in controlling London and the counties of south-eastern England as well as the navy, Parliament's supporters were more ideologically committed to their cause than their opponents. The latter were constrained by their conservatism in defending the old order, their greater respect for traditional restraints in their localities and by the divided counsels of the King himself. Charles I was an inadequate leader for his own cause. I was interested too to see some of the economic and social distinctions to which Holmes drew attention even if they were not his main point of focus. I shall be looking forward to completing my reading in the next few days.