Oliver Cromwell

Davis, J.C.200103UU

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Summary

This comprehensive new study provides an original and provocative approach to Cromwell's reputation and role in the English revolution. J. C. Davis's penetrating analysis reveals Cromwell's successes and failures and offers a fascinating assessment of his life and achievements. Oliver Cromwell's greatness has rarely been disputed. He is acknowledged as a colussus, a Promethean figure of English and Irish history. But the nature of that greatness has been subjected to a wide variety of interpretations, often passionately held and running to extremes, depicting him as a figure of great wickedness or great virtue. To make sense of his place in history we have to understand the evolution of his reputation and the purposes served by its various forms. Davis argues that, despite the extremes of interpretation, Cromwell's reputation has never been indefinitely elastic; that there have always been acknowledged facts which had to be faced up to. The evidence, and in some cases the lack of evidence, have to be appreciated contextually. So, Cromwell's rise from 'obscurity', his astonishing success as a soldier, his religion, his eventual dominance as a politician, his success and failure as a statesman are here re-examined in the dual light of his reputation and the context of his times. The result is a fresh and provocative assessment of his life and achievement, his role in the English Revolution and his place in British history.Oliver Cromwell's greatness has rarely been disputed. He is acknowledged as a colossus, a Promethean figure of English and British history. But the nature of that greatness has been subjected to a wide variety of interpretations, often passionately held and running to extremes, depicting him as a figure of great wickedness or great virtue. To make sense of his place in history we have to understand the evolution of his reputation and the purposes served by its various forms. This book argues that, despite the extremes of interpretation, Cromwell's reputation has never been infinitely elastic; that there have always been acknowledged facts which had to be faced up to. The evidence, and in some cases the lack of evidence, have to be appreciated contextually. So, Cromwell's rise from 'obscurity', his astonishing success as a soldier, his religion, his eventual dominance as a politician, his success and failure as a statesman are here re-examined in the dual light of his reputation and the context of his times. The result is a fresh and provocative assessment of his life and achievements, his role in the English Revolution and his place in British history.Review: 'Colin Davis brings an unrelenting intelligence to his interrogation of the treacherous sources for the life of Oliver Cromwell, and he demands answers to radical questions. The result is a study that is wonderfully fresh, bold and challenging. It makes for gripping reading.' John Morrill, Professor of British and Irish Histo 'Overall, this book is excellent and is a very enjoyable read. Concise and clear, it is a good starting point for those who do not know much about Oliver Cromwell. However, for those with more knowledge it offers new and often valuable insights into the man and includes all the latest historical research. I can thoroughly recommend this book.' Journal of the Sealed Knot Society 'Although other historians have already provided recent and easily accessible studies of Cromwell...Davis's is distinctively different and will undoubtedly find new readers.' Times Higher Education Supplement 'Davis's is the best analysis we have of Cromwell's religion and its politics.' Journal of Modern History 'Colin Davis has written a highly sophisticated and profoundly skeptical book on Cromwell . The most intellectually satisfying book on Cromwell this reviewer has ever read. Deserves to be read by all students of the period.' Albion.