Wednesday 2 January, 10pm
Repeated on Sunday 5 January, 9pm

In 1640, England was so peaceful that only four people knew how to fire a mortar-cannon. Just eight years later, the nation had become a 17th-century Bosnia, engulfed by brutal violence in which families and communities tore themselves apart. England suffered, proportionately, greater losses than in the First World War. A newly free media stoked the fires of suspicion and religious hatred to push the nation, step by step, towards carnage.

Blood On Our Hands explores the real reasons behind the English Civil War and brings to life through the personal testimony of everyday people the story of how the nation turned on itself.

Brilliana, Lady Harley, under siege in her Herefordshire home, smuggles coded appeals for help to her teenage son in the army. Former journeyman tanner Sgt Wharton gets a taste for leadership only to die during his first battle. And humble wood turner, Nehemiah Wallington, one of a new breed of news junkies, watches the terrible human tragedy unfold.

When to watch
Find out when Blood On Our Hands is on TV