War and politics in the Elizabethan counties reassesses the English national war effort during the wars against Spain (1585-1603). Drawing on a mass of hitherto neglected source material from both central and local archives, it finds a political system in much better health than has been thought, revising many existing assumptions about the weaknesses of the state in the face of military change.

This book approaches the topic by examining England as a single polity, drawing case studies from across the country and from politics and government at all levels, from the court and privy council to the counties and parishes. It assesses the work of the central regime alongside the local machinery of lord lieutenancies which carried its demands into the counties, towns and parishes of England. These mechanisms of rule were crucial to the success of the war effort, by providing troops to fight Elizabeth's wars overseas, running the militia which defended against Spanish invasion attempts and paying for them both through local taxes. The problems of government on the ground are examined in a wide-ranging set of contexts, addressing popular attitudes to the war and the government's efforts to influence them, resistance to government demands, and the problems of governing a country divided in religion and a regime deeply fearful of the future. In this way it ranges much more widely than the war alone, providing a new assessment of the effectiveness of the Elizabethan state as a whole.

This book will be of interest to historians of English politics and government at both national and local levels in the Elizabethan and early Stuart periods.