The Greatness of Oliver Cromwell

by Maurice Percy Ashley

The military, political and personal genius of England's most controversial hero - seen against the stormy background of his age.

Genres: History, Biography, Civil War

373 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Maurice Percy Ashley, CBE, was a noted historian of the 17th Century and a former editor of The Listener.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was way better than I thought it would be. I knew very little about Cromwell, and most of what I knew was biased against him, because the victors always get to write history. The folks who dug up his corpse and hung it in London after the Restoration were not fair or kind. He was actually far more tolerant and fair than his enemies, and overthrew the government in order to safeguard freedom of conscience and religion (sort of). He believed that every person should have a direct relationship with the deity, and opposed any religion, such as Anglicanism and Catholicism, that imposed a religious hierarchy to intervene in that relationship. So as long as you were Protestant, and didn't disturb the peace, you were free to practice your religion, as far as he was concerned (Parliamentary members were a different matter). Beyond that, he knew that Anglicans and Catholics were conducting private ceremonies and permitted them to go on; one of his daughters was married in an Anglican ceremony, which he attended. He allowed Jews back into England for the first time in centuries. He opposed oligarchies and protested against their exploitation of the poor. In many ways, a man ahead of his times.