Focusing on Oliver Cromwell's complex role in English history, Barry Coward examines his life through his own words and actions, providing insights into his political significance. The book delves into the controversies surrounding Cromwell's exercise of power, highlighting the historical challenges he faced. This introduction offers a nuanced perspective on a figure who continues to provoke debate and intrigue.
Examining the nature of the first regime to have effective control of the British Isles and the impact it had on England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales and on Britain's international reputation, this study views the Cromwellian period as one of acheivement rather than merely a reactionary regime.
A major undertaking in its own right, this Second Edition of The Stuart Age (revised throughout, and reset in a more generous format) is fully worthy of the immensely successful First Edition. It provides clear and accessible interpretations of the many changes that took place in these crowded years -- still the centre of the most lively and intellectually exciting debates of any period of British history -- but its aim is not to persuade readers to accept these interpretations uncritically, but to help them take part in the ongoing debate themselves.