'Cathedrals under Siege' is the story of our greatest churches during the seventeenth century - the most perilous episode in their history. During the Civil War and Commonwealth, they were attacked, desecrated and abolished as institutions, just managing to survive to be restored with Charles II in 1660. This book reviews these great events along with the quieter periods in the early and later parts of the centuries. It examines all aspects of cathedral history - buildings, clergy, finances, music and literature - breaking new ground in the first ever study of cathedrals in this important century.