Behind the turmoil of revolution and civil war in England lurked the larger, cultural reality of a nation-wide “war of words.” More than ever before—in England or anywhere else—the Revolution was a case of politics fought in the “public sphere”: More than 22,000 newspapers, newsletters, pamphlets, broadsheets, sermons and speeches were published between 1640 and 1661. England was never without periodical news from 1638 on; in addition to newspapers, something like 2,000 pamphlets were published in 1642 alone—an average of 6 pamphlets each day. This represented an outpouring of argument and opinion in print the likes of which had not been seen since the heady days of the Reformation.