When Charles Stuart was crowned King of Scotland, Cromwell led the English army north to counter the threat he now posed. Their march on Edinburgh was opposed by Leslie's Scottish army who forced them back as far as Dunbar. Battle ensued, and the Scots fought with determination until Cromwell led his cavalry against their right wing.

Osprey's study of the most famous battle of the Third English Civil War (1649-1651). Having already allied with his father, the Scots' acceptance of Charles II as king in 1649 caused deep suspicion in England. In July 1650, Oliver Cromwell led a powerful force across the Scottish border to remove the problem. For six weeks Cromwell waged a frustrating campaign against a Scots enemy that refused to meet him in battle. By the beginning of September Cromwell's army, poorly supplied, exhausted and ravaged by sickness, was apparently trapped at Dunbar by a powerful Scots army. On 3 September he won his greatest military victory just outside the town, but in this book Stuart Reid suggests that his triumph may in fact have begun as a breakout attempt.